j 33

THE FUNCTIONS AND PHYSIOLOGY OF MEMORY.

A NEW HORIZONS RESEARCH FOUNDATION PAPER.

Copyright: New Horizons Research

January 1987.

Foundation.

INTRODUCTION.
How does memory work? No one - but no one - i s sure.
It's
t h a t simple.
What makes memory so hard to understand i s the
seeming c a p r i c e with which i t operates.
Man has always
speculated about memory, and the subject s t i l l o f f e r s a major
challenge to p s y c h o l o g i s t s .
Before the subject can be p r o p e r l y
d i s c u s s e d , what 'memory' i n v o l v e s must be c l a r i f i e d and
some ways of t h i n k i n g about i t o u t l i n e d .
The f i r s t d i f f i c u l t y i s t h a t memory i s c o n v e n t i o n a l l y regarded
as a d i s c r e t e area o f study and i n v e s t i g a t i o n , or even as a
d i s c r e t e phenomenon.
But c l e a r l y i t subsumes, or at l e a s t
i n v o l v e s , almost a l l the other t r a d i t i o n a l areas of psychology.
F o r i n s t a n c e , i f we were memory-less how could we be s a i d to
p e r c e i v e , c o n c e p t u a l i z e , imagine, or r e m i n i n i s c e ?
How could
we plan, deduce, solve problems, or t h i n k l o g i c a l l y ?
How
could we engage i n l e a r n i n g , develop new s k i l l s , and h a b i t s ,
or r e t a i n o l d ones?
How could we form s o c i a l r e l a t i o n s h i p s ,
a t t i t u d e s , or p e r s o n a l i t y a t t r i b u t e s ?
Indeed, without memory
how could we a c q u i r e the p r i m i t i v e responses which enable us
to survive?
So i t could be argued that the t o p i c o f 'memory
encompasses so many other p s y c h o l o g i c a l phenomena and f u n c t i o n s
t h a t i t i s no more amenable to examination than 'psychology'
itself.
However, we propose to make a 'stab' a t some
understanding o f what memory i s a l l about.
THE

PHYSIOLOGY OF MEMORY.

F o r many years n e u r o p h y s i o l o g i s t s have been attempting to

d i s c o v e r e x a c t l y where i n the b r a i n the mechanism t h a t i s
r e s p o n s i b l e f o r our a b i l i t y to remember i s s i t u a t e d .
For
s e v e r a l decades now n e u r o p h y s i o l o g i s t s have e x t e n s i v e l y
mapped the b r a i n with e l e c t r i c a l r e c o r d i n g d e v i c e s and weak
e l e c t r i c c u r r e n t s to map the pathways of the nerves of the
b r a i n , and they can now speak with some confidence o f
v i s u a l , a u d i t o r y , and motor areas i n the c e r e b r a l cortex.
Much i s now understood about these processes, but the l o c a t i o n
o f a s p e c i a l area where memory r e s i d e s , i f such a l o c a t i o n
indeed e x i s t s , remains s t i l l t o t a l l y unknown.
Physiologists
d e s c r i b e two types o f memory, short-term memory, and long-term
memory.
The terms are s e l f - d e s c r i p t i v e .
I t appears t h a t
f o r a memory to become long-term, r e t a i n e d over a p e r i o d o f
time, a system o f r e g i s t r a t i o n , or f i x a t i o n , has to occur.
I n short term memory the g i v e n f a c t s are not ' f i x e d ' and
t h e r e f o r e are not r e t a i n e d f o r remembrance l a t e r .
This f a c t
e x p l a i n s why, i n a traumatic s i t u a t i o n i n c u r r i n g some b r a i n
damage, such as a concussion d u r i n g an a c c i d e n t , the v i c t i m
i s unable to remember the events t h a t immediately preceded
the a c c i d e n t , although the long-term memory i s u n a f f e c t e d .
The memories immediately p r i o r to the a c c i d e n t had not become
f i x e d before the b r a i n r e c e i v e d the shock which stopped i t s
o p e r a t i o n temporarily, and so the memory i s l o s t f o r e v e r .
I t w i l l most l i k e l y never r e t u r n , the memory i s completely
lost.

Of course, complete or p a r t i a l l o s s o f memory can occur

a f t e r extensive b r a i n damage, as i n the course of some d i s e a s e s ,
p a r t i c u l a r l y the degenerative diseases t h a t can accompany
o l d age.
I t i s a l s o w e l l known that s e v e r i n g c e r t a i n
nerves i n the f r o n t a l area of the b r a i n , as has been done
i n the o p e r a t i o n of f r o n t a l lobectomy f o r c e r t a i n mental
d i s e a s e s can a l s o cause memory l o s s , sometimes patchy,
sometimes more e x t e n s i v e .
F o l l o w i n g extensive b r a i n damage many p a t i e n t s who have
undergone r e t r a i n i n g have found i t p o s s i b l e to r e g a i n some
o f the l o s t memories, even though these may be patchy;
more importantly, and more i n t e r e s t i n g l y , with p a t i e n c e
even some o f the most e x t e n s i v e l y b r a i n damaged persons
can be taught b a s i c s k i l l s again that they had l o s t ,
reading, w r i t i n g , a r i t h m e t i c , p e r s o n a l care, a b i l i t y to
move around i n t h e i r environment, thus demonstrating t h a t
even f o l l o w i n g the most extensive damage, the a b i l i t y
to l e a r n and thus remember i s not t o t a l l y l o s t .
Memory
does not seem to r e s i d e i n any one area of the b r a i n , such
as v i s i o n , speech f u n c t i o n , h e a r i n g and the l i k e , i t appears
to 'permeate' i f one can use t h a t word the whole b r a i n area.
K a r l H. Pribram i n an a r t i c l e "The Neurophysiology o f
Remembering"(Scientific American, Jan 1969, 220, 1) w r i t e s
"I b e l i e v e there i s now a v a i l a b l e a hypothesis about the nature
o f the memory t r a c e that s a t i s f i e s the known p h y s i o l o g i c a l
requirements and t h a t can be t e s t e d by experiment.
It is
perhaps not s u r p r i s i n g that the b r a i n may e x p l o i t among other
t h i n g s the most s o p h i s t i c a t e d p r i n c i p l e o f i n f o r m a t i o n
storage y e t known; the p r i n c i p l e of the hologram.
In a
hologram the i n f o r m a t i o n i n a scene i s recorded on a
photographic p l a t e i n the form of a complex i n t e r f e r e n c e ,
o r d i f f r a c t i o n , p a t t e r n t h a t appears meaningless.
When the
p a t t e r n i s i l l u m i n a t e d by coherent l i g h t , however, the
o r i g i n a l image i s r e c o n s t r u c t e d .
What makes the hologram
unique as a storage device i s t h a t every o r i g i n a l image
i s d i s t r i b u t e d over the e n t i r e photographic p l a t e .
The
h y p o t h e s i s i s a t t r a c t i v e because remembering or r e c o l l e c t i n g
l i t e r a l l y i m p l i e s a r e c o n s t r u c t i v e process - the assembly
o f dismembered mnemic events."
During the past few decades a tremendous amount o f work has
been done on the neurophysiology of memory and l e a r n i n g , most
o f i t too t e c h n i c a l and s p e c i a l i s e d f o r the average person
to comprehend. A g r e a t d e a l of work has been done on the
e f f e c t of v a r i o u s chemicals on the b r a i n ' s a b i l i t y to r e t a i n
i n f o r m a t i o n , and t h i s work i s s t i l l proceeding.
Much work has
been done on c r e a t u r e s such as octopus and s n a i l s t h a t has
l e d to some understanding o f the manner i n which the b r a i n
r e t a i n s and a c t s upon i n f o r m a t i o n .

Some r e c e n t r e s e a r c h on the s n a i l Hermissenda produced r e s u l t s

t h a t e x c i t e d p a r t i c i p a n t s a t a conference on the Neurobiology
o f L e a r n i n g and Memory i n C a l i f o r n i a i n 1985
Prof. Daniel
Alkon, o f the Marine B i o l o g i c a l Laboratory a t Woods Hole,
Masachusetts, r e p o r t e d on h i s experiments to a f a s c i n a t e d
audience.
Alkon c o n d i t i o n e d h i s s n a i l s on a t u r n t a b l e , where
they l e a r n e d to a s s o c i a t e two s t i m u l i - a f l a s h o f l i g h t , and
the r o t a t i o n of the t u r n t a b l e . Hermissenda have two types
o f eye neurons; A c e l l s t h a t sense l i g h t , and t u r n the animal
towards i t , and B c e l l s , t h a t a l s o sense l i g h t , but can i n h i b i t
the A c e l l s from t u r n i n g the animal i n the d i r e c t i o n o f l i g h t .
The i n h i b i t i o n of movement occurs when the s t a t o c y s t s - organs
t h a t r e g i s t e r s p a t i a l o r i e n t a t i o n - t e l l the s n a i l to h o l d
t i g h t , as they do when the seas they l i v e i n are rough.
The B c e l l normally r e c e i v e s i n h i b i t o r y s i g n a l s from the
s t a t o c y s t which keeps i t i n the n e g a t i v e l y charged r e s t i n g
s t a t e by a l l o w i n g p o s i t i v e potassium i o n s to leave the c e l l .
When a l i g h t f l a s h e s , p o s i t i v e sodium i o n s rush i n t o the B
c e l l , f o l l o w e d by p o s i t i v e calcium i o n s .
During t r a i n i n g ,
the t u r n t a b l e s t a r t s a t t h a t moment, and the s t a t o c y s t i n c r e a s e s
i n h i b i t i o n o f the B c e l l .
But when r o t a t i o n stops, the
s t a t o c y s t r e l a x e s i t s i n h i b i t o r y hold on the B c e l l , which
becomes more p o s i t i v e as more calcium channels open.
When
the number of calcium i o n s d r a m a t i c a l l y i n c r e a s e s , a widespread
change occurs;
phosphate groups block c e r t a i n membrane
channels, which r e s t r i c t s the outward flow of potassium i o n s
and r e s u l t s i n an excess o f p o s i t i v e i o n s i n the B c e l l .
F o r as l o n g as the potassium channels remain blocked, a t l e a s t
a few days, the B c e l l remains i n a semi-excited s t a t e . I t
i s more prone to f i r e i t s i n h i b i t o r y message to the A c e l l ,
p r e v e n t i n g the s n a i l from moving toward the l i g h t .
Now j u s t a f l a s h o f l i g h t w i l l do what the r o t a t i o n d i d
o r i g i n a l l y - i n h i b i t the muscles t h a t move the s n a i l towards
light.
Hermissenda has l e a r n e d .
En passant i t i s worth n o t i n g t h a t Pavlov h i m s e l f and h i s
i n t e l l e c t u a l h e r i t o r s , the " b e h a v i o u r i s t s " (such as Watson
and Skinner) would have s a i d merely t h a t the Hermissendas
had been " c o n d i t i o n e d " so t h a t a minimum stimulus would produce
the r e f l e x t h a t o r i g i n a l l y ( i . e . before c o n d i t i o n i n g ) had
r e q u i r e d a more massive and prolonged stimulus f o r t r i g g e r i n g .
However, "the w h i r l i g i g of time b r i n g s i n i t s changes" and
" l e a r n i n g " i s no l o n g e r a d i r t y word i n b e h a v i o u r i s t c i r c l e s
(even though "consciousness" s t i l l may be);
i n f a c t , much
o f behaviourism i n experimental psychology has merely gone
underground and^donned a white collar**under the c u r r e n t t i t l e
o f " l e a r n i n g theory".
(See The Rise and D e c l i n e of Behaviourism,

New Horizons, A p r i l 198J>)

I n s i m i l a r c l a s s i c a l c o n d i t i o n i n g experiments r a b b i t s had
l e a r n e d to b l i n k t h e i r eyes a t the sound of a tone.
Slices
o f b r a i n t i s s u e from the hippocampus, a s i t e i n mammalian
b r a i n s b e l i e v e d to p l a y a c e n t r a l r o l e i n l e a r n i n g , were
examined and compared among t r a i n e d and u n t r a i n e d animals.
Hippocampal nerve c e l l s from c o n d i t i o n e d r a b b i t s r e f l e c t e d
changes i n e l e c t r o p h y s i o l o g i c a l p r o p e r t i e s and i n membrane
channels s i m i l a r to c o n d i t i o n e d s n a i l s .
Alkon s a i d " I t
t u r n s out t h a t those channels are not i d i o s y n c r a t i c to
Hermissenda or m o l l u s c s , or even i n v e r t e b r a t e s o f any s p e c i e s .
Those p a r t i c u l a r channels are conserved d u r i n g e v o l u t i o n ,
and they are p r e s e n t a l l the way from paramecia to r a b b i t s ,
c a t s , and o u r s e l v e s " .
The author of the a r t i c l e r e p o r t i n g the proceedings o f
t h i s Conference on L e a r n i n g (Science, May 1985) comments
"Not everyone would agree with that o f course, nor r e l i s h
the thought that memories of a high school sweetheart might
be e x p l a i n e d by the comingling o f c a l c i u m i o n s and other
chemicals i n a s p l i t second o f s e n t i m e n t a l h i s t o r y .
The
a u d a c i t y o f that n o t i o n i s matched o n l y by the idea t h a t the
answer to l e a r n i n g ' s v a s t p u z z l e i s coming from l o w l y
gastropods.
As one n e u r o b i o l o g i s t r e c e n t l y s a i d "Thank
God fo s n a i l s " . "
The p h y s i o l o g y o f l e a r n i n g and memory remains a v a s t
p u z z l e , and i s l i k e l y to be so for. some time i n the f u t u r e .
The l i t e r a t u r e on the s u b j e c t i s so e x t e n s i v e , and so
t e c h n i c a l , i t i s not p o s s i b l e to expand f u r t h e r i n t h i s
short a r t i c l e .
However, i f we s t i l l do not f u l l y understand
the neurophysiology o f the b r a i n i n r e s p e c t o f memory
f u n c t i o n , we do have some understanding of how memory f u n c t i o n s
and of what we can expect of our a b i l i t y to remember.
THE FUNCTION OF MEMORY.
Memory i s the most e s s e n t i a l f u n c t i o n o f our b r a i n .
L i f e without memory would be almost i m p o s s i b l e . As we have
seen, even the most p r i m i t i v e c r e a t u r e s need to possess
some rudimentary form o f memory i n o r d e r to s u r v i v e .
Memory i s s t i m u l a t e d through a l l o f our senses; we see
and remember, we t a s t e and remember, we hear and remember,
we touch and remember, and a l l these memories comprise the
experiences which enable us to s u r v i v e .
How do we l e a r n ?
The answer to t h i s q u e s t i o n i s as complex
and complicated as the whole o f our own p e r s o n a l experience.
At the bottom end o f the s c a l e we l e a r n through simple
experience - the c h i l d touches a hot s u r f a c e and g e t s burnt,
and subsequently remembers t h a t the experience o f touching
something hot w i l l cause a p a i n f u l experience; an experience
t h a t i s l i t e r a l l y 'burnt' i n t o memory.
The c h i l d w i l l not

d e l i b e r a t e l y o r v o l u n t a r i l y touch a hot s u r f a c e again, the

memory o f the experience i s f o r l i f e - a long-term memory.
The experience has been v i v i d and p a i n f u l .
Experiences
which produce p a i n , f e a r , joy, d e l i g h t , - h i g h l i g h t s o f
emotional f e e l i n g s , even though they may be one-time o n l y
experiences, a r e u s u a l l y 'sealed' i n memory, perhaps f o r
a lifetime.
Whether the " c o n d i t i o n e d r e f l e x " which produces an immediate
response, without any process o f conscious reasoning o r
d e c i s i o n b e i n g gone through, should be c a l l e d a form o f memory
i s , o f course, a t r i c k y p o i n t .
Other memories are formed by the process o f r e p e t i t i o n .
We a r e a l l f a m i l i a r with the process o f l e a r n i n g by t h i s
method, the mathematical t a b l e s t h a t we l e a r n e d i n childhood,
the p l a y i n g o f scales on the piano, the r e c i t a t i o n o f
poems, songs, speeches, and the l i k e .
Some o f these memories
are r e t a i n e d over long p e r i o d s o f time, o t h e r s are f o r g o t t e n
u n l e s s c o n t i n u a l l y , o r a t l e a s t o c c a s i o n a l l y , r e i n f o r c e d by
further repetition.
Other memories s t i l l a r e formed because o f our own s p e c i a l
interests.
I n these cases we l e a r n because we choose to
i n v o l v e o u r s e l v e s i n a s p e c i a l area o f i n t e r e s t , a hobby,
be i t s t a m p - c o l l e c t i n g , entomology, parapsychology, photography
and the h o b b y i s t , because o f h i s o r h e r i n t e r e s t and involvement
i n the chosen s u b j e c t w i l l r e t a i n memories o f what they have
l e a r n e d f o r a much l o n g e r p e r i o d o f time than w i l l those who
have l i t t l e i n t e r e s t i n the s u b j e c t .
We seem to have an
a b i l i t y to choose what we w i l l remember i n c e r t a i n areas.
S i m i l a r l y one i s c o n v e n i e n t l y a b l e to f o r g e t i n f o r m a t i o n
t h a t i s o f l i t t l e i n t e r e s t o r r e l e v a n c e to one's continued
a b i l i t y to f u n c t i o n .
Although i n f o r m a t i o n i s c o n t i n u a l l y
fed i n t o our b r a i n s , a t l e a s t through our waking p e r i o d s ,
and p o s s i b l y to some extent d u r i n g our s l e e p i n g p e r i o d s , our
memory f u n c t i o n i s a b l e to s o r t , d i s c a r d , and r e t a i n , and ( f o r
want o f a b e t t e r word) ' f i l e ' t h i s i n f o r m a t i o n i n order o f
i t s importance.
P'or irustance, when r e a d i n g the d a i l y newspaper each morning
one w i l l remember f o r o n l y a few hours most o f the d e t a i l e d
r e p o r t s one has read r e g a r d i n g d a i l y events;
but j u s t one o r
two s t o r i e s may 'stand out i n the mind' and remain i n the memory
because the knowledge i s p e r s o n a l l y important.
Similarly,
while one might make a number o f telephone c a l l s d u r i n g the
course o f a day, one i s u n l i k e l y to remember any o f the numbers
called.
The i n f o r m a t i o n i s i r r e l e v a n t , e a s i l y found a g a i n
when needed, and so not important.
We meet many people
c a s u a l l y , whom we know we are u n l i k e l y to meet again, and we
d i s m i s s them from our memories, and i n most cases would be

able to r e c a l l n e i t h e r names o r f a c e s a few days l a t e r .

However, i f on f i r s t encounter with a new p i e c e o f i n f o r m a t i o n ,
- a telephone number, or a person - we have reason to t h i n k
we may need t h i s i n f o r m a t i o n again, there seems to be no
problem i n s t o r i n g t h a t i n f o r m a t i o n immediately i n memory.
I t i s f a s c i n a t i n g to speculate as to how m a t e r i a l i s s t o r e d
i n memory. We l i k e n the memory f u n c t i o n to a f i l i n g system
or computer f o r want o f b e t t e r terms to d e s c r i b e t h a t f u n c t i o n .
A r e p o r t was r e c e n t l y g i v e n i n a s c i e n t i f i c magazine (Discover,
October 1985) o f a man who had had a stroke and s u f f e r e d damage
to the l e f t f r o n t a l lobe o f h i s b r a i n . H i s memory was
a f f e c t e d i n a v e r y s p e c i a l i s e d way.
He s u f f e r e d from anomia
( d i f f i c u l t y i n f i n d i n g words) as a r e s u l t , but h i s anomia was
v e r y narrow.
While being able to i d e n t i f y such d i v e r s e
words as abacus, p r o t r a c t o r , s p h i n x , t r e l l i s , yoke, e t c . he
drew a complete blank when confronted with any name o f anything
t h a t grew i n a garden or orchard.
He could not i d e n t i f y
a peach, apples, c h e r r i e s , l e t t u c e , tomatoes, cucumbers and
so on.
He only had t r o u b l e with the names o f f r u i t s and
vegetables;
i t was as i f the page of h i s mind pn which the
names o f f r u i t s and veg e t a b l e s are w r i t t e n had been r i p p e d out.
S c i e n t i s t s have long b e l i e v e d t h a t words i n the b r a i n are
organized i n a s o r t of i n n e r l e x i c o n . The t r i c k i s to f i g u r e
out the f i l i n g system.
T h i s p a t i e n t ' s experience suggests
t h a t the i n n e r l e x i c o n has r a t h e r s p e c i f i c e n t r i e s .
The f a c t
t h a t he l o s t the f r u i t and vegetable category suggests that
there i s such a category to l o s e . When asked where the produce
s e c t i o n of the b r a i n i s , the s c i e n t i s t s answer that they do
not know where i n the b r a i n any category i s .
The common experience o f f o r g e t f u l n e s s on the one hand,
and r e t e n t i v e n e s s on the other, suggests t h a t memory f u n c t i o n s
i n two d i s t i n c t ways - on a short-term b a s i s , and on a long-term
one.
For purposes of d i s c u s s i o n i t i s o f t e n convenient to
speak of a short-term memory and a long-term memory, although
the two seem to be so c l o s e l y r e l a t e d t h a t they are d e s c r i b e d
by some i n v e s t i g a t o r s as two a s p e c t s o f the same phenomenon.
Short-term storage serves w e l l f o r many o c c a s i o n s i n d a i l y l i f e .
Long-term storage i s , i n f a c t , l e a r n i n g ; the process by
which i n f o r m a t i o n t h a t may be needed a g i n i s stored f o r r e c a l l
on demand.
The problem of " r e p r e s s i o n " the apparent ' f o r c i n g - o u t '
o f e i t h e r i s o l a t e d f a c t s or whole connected p i e c e s o f experience
from the memory i n t o a realm which seems to be almost t o t a l l y
beyond r e c a l l , represents, i t would seem, y e t another k i n d o f
forgetfulness.
According to p s y c h o a n a l y t i c t h e o r i e s " r e p r e s s i o n "
comes about because the emotions a s s o c i a t e d with these memories
are too d i s t u r b i n g to be allowed to be r e a d i l y a v a i l a b l e to
the conscious mind.
However t h i s problan i s not one we are a b l t
to pursue here.
Our concern i s with normal f e a t u r e s o f

memory and f o r g e t t i n g r a t h e r than with the p a t h o l o g i c a l .

S i m i l a r l y we do not r e v i e w memory d i s o r d e r s .

E n d l e s s f a s c i n a t i n g experiments have been done on the a b i l i t y

"to remember, we can only quote a few o f the r e s u l t s "that
have been quoted i n the l i t e r a t u r e on the s u b j e c t .
The p r o c e s s i s by nD means simple.
F o r example, i n
experiments done with s u b j e c t s l e a r n i n g l i s t s o f words,
i t was d i s c o v e r e d "thai; "the more l i s t s a s u b j e c t s has l e a r n e d
"the more he f o r g e t s o f "the l a s t l i s t he s t u d i e d . Somehow
each l i s t ; l e a r n e d c o n t r i b u t e s "to the f o r g e t t i n g of the
f o l l o w i n g l i s t s or l i s t .
But how? How can something l e a r n e d
t e n to twenty days ago i n f l u e n c e the f o r g e t t i n g o f new
material?
An experimenter d e s c r i b e s some o f h i s experiments on "this
as f o l l o w s
" T h i s tame we ask a s u b j e c t to l e a r n two l i s t s , both
o f the p a i r e d - a s s o c i a t i o n type, and r e l a t e d to each o t h e r .
The f i r s t l i s t i s DAX - n e u t r a l , VOH - p r e t t y , PEL - h y b r i d ,
QUS - a r c t i c ( U s u a l l y we would use a l o n g e r l i s t , but t h i s
shortened v e r s i o n w i l l do f o r i l l u s t r a t i o n ) .
A f t e r the s u b j e c t
has l e a r n e d to say " N e u t r a l " when he i s shown DAX as the cue,
" P r e t t y " i n response tD TDH, and SD on, he i s g i v e n the second
l i s t t o l e a r n , t h i s time with d i f f e r e n t words a s s o c i a t e d with
the same cues: DAX - yellow, VOH - a g i l e , PEL f l a s h y , QUS unclean,
l e a r n i n g an item i n the second l i s t i s l i k e
l e a r n i n g a new number f o r your home telephone, or a new p o s i t i o n
f o r reverse i n your car's g e a r s h i f t .
I t t a k e s the s u b j e c t a
l i t t l e l o n g e r to l e a r n the second l i s t to the p o i n t where he
can g i v e the c o r r e c t responses to a l l the items i n a t r i a l ,
"but he does n o t have as much d i f f i c u l t y i n l e a r n i n g as one
might expect.
Twenty-four h o u r s l a t e r we t e s t the s u b j e c t on each l i s t .
I f lie had been g i v e n o n l y one l i s t to l e a r n , h i s f o r g e t t i n g
score would have been 20 p e r c e n t .
But now h i s f o r g e t t i n g ,
or f a i l u r e * , i s 60 p e r cent on both l i s t s . ' That i s t o say,
h i s f o r g e t t i n g has been i n c r e a s e d by 40 p e r .cent, and we must
conclude t h a t i n t e r f e r e n c e o f one l i s t with the other i s the
reason.
"This i n t e r p r e t a t i o n i s borne out by the f a c t t h a t
i n t r y i n g to r e c a l l the a s s o c i a t i o n s i n the f i r s t l i s t the
s u b j e c t o f t e n g i v e s a word or two from the second l i s t and
v i c e versa.
I t i s as i f the two l e a r n i n g batches had been
poured i n t o a s i n g l e beaker and become mixed t o g e t h e r by
d i f f u s i o n as time passes. "

I n the cases j u s t d e s c r i b e d we can say L i s t 2 exerted r e t r o a c t i v e

i n t e r f e r e n c e with the r e c o l l e c t i o n o f L i s t 1, and L i s t 1
caused p r o a c t i v e i n t e r f e r e n c e with the attempt to remember
L i s t 2.
These experiments i l l u s t r a t e another important
principlej
the i n t e r f e r e n c e , and hence the f o r g e t t i n g , i s
most severe when the t h i n g s to be remembered a r e very s i m i l a r
to each other.
Here we had two l i s t s i n which the cues,
to which d i f f e r e n t answers had to be given, were i d e n t i c a l .
We would g e t the same high r a t e o f f o r g e t t i n g i f the two
l i s t s were simply l i s t s o f words, one o f which c o n g i s t e d o f
synonyms f o r the corresponding items i n the o t h e r .
Summing up these o b s e r v a t i o n s i n the form o f a general theory,
we can say t h a t ' - a l l f o r g e t t i n g r e s u l t s b a s i c a l l y from
i n t e r f e r e n c e between the a s s o c i a t i o n s a man c a r r i e s i n h i s
memory storage system".
L a t e r experiments, however, suggested that the i n a b i l i t y
to r e c a l l p r e v i o u s l y learned l i s t s was due n o t so much
to i n t e r f e r e n c e as to 'overcrowding' and the f a c t t h a t search
f o r p r e v i o u s l y l e a r n e d i n f o r m a t i o n must be conducted over
a broader area o f memory.
Experimenters i n t h i s theory
p o i n t out t h a t i n t e r f e r e n c e a c t i n g over a p e r i o d o f time
c h i e f l y a f f e c t s a v a i l a b i l i t y , l e a v i n g a s s o c i a t i o n unimpaired.
They quote a f a m i l i a r experience o f everyday l i f e - the " t i p of-the-tongaae"phenomenon.
One may p r i d e o n s e l f on having a
good memory f o r both f a c e s and names, and then meet someone
whose face i s f a m i l i a r but whose name seems almost, but n o t
q u i t e , t h e r e . I f a mutual f r i e n d should happen to come along
and g r e e t the other person by name, the name would be
recognized i n s t a n t l y .
T h i s i s a t y p i c a l i n s t a n c e i n which
" a s s o c i a t i o n " - t h a t i s , the knowledge that a face and a name
go t o g e t h e r - has beai preserved, even though the d e s i r e d
item o f i n f o r m a t i o n cannot be brought to mind.
The memory
i s simply n o t " a v a i l a b l e " .
There i s a l s o the reverse
phenomenon; the memory i s a v a i l a b l e , but the a s s o c i a t i o n
is lost.
Another everyday experience which l e n d s credence
to the overcrowding theory, and the n e c e s s i t y f o r search
i s when, i n the above s i t u a t i o n f o r i n s t a n c e , a mutual f r i e n d
does n o t appear, to use the l o o k e d - f o r name, and one i s
l e f t f l o u n e r i n g , attempting to conceal the f a c t t h a t one
has t o t a l l y f o r g o t t e n the name, o n l y to remember i t i n a
f l a s h some time l a t e r , perhaps immediately on l e a v i n g the
person, maybe some hours l a t e r .
I t c e r t a i n l y seems t h a t
a search has had to be conducted to match face and name.
One o f us (IMO) conducted a p e r s o n a l experiment once
to decide how many people might f i t i n t o the category o f being
known s u f f i c e n t l y c a s u a l l y that one might not expect to
remember them immediately, but had been known s u f f i c e n t l y
w e l l t h a t t h e i r names and f a c e s might be imprinted on memory.

These names were o f p a t i e n t s nursed over a p e r i o d o f time,

people b e l o n g i n g to v a r i o u s o r g a n i z a t i o n s with whom c o n t a c t
had been made f a i r l y f r e q u e n t l y ;
most o f these were people
who e q u a l l y might be expected to remember both by name and
face the experimenter.
A f t e r l i s t i n g more than one thousand
names, the theory of search became a v e r y reaonsable theory
indeed. I t a l s o made one f e e l a l o t b e t t e r when on o c c a s i o n
one d i d get stuck f o r a name!
Experiments have been done to t e s t the extent to which
f o r g e t t i n g was a f f e c t e d by i n t e r f e r e n c e .
As might be
expected, i n the l i g h t o f p e r s o n a l experience, i t was
decided t h a t while some items are i n f a c t completely l o s t t h e i r a v a i l a b i l i t y i s l o s t * , the s u b j e c t ' s a b i l i t y to
a s s o c i a t e items remains g e n e r a l l y unimpaired;
the d i f f i c u l t y
l i e s r a t h e r i n b r i n g i n g items to mind. So, i n the above
example, i f the person met i n the s t r e e t had had so l i t t l e
impact on the memory that r e c a l l of both face and name had
been l o s t (the c o c k t a i l p a r t y type guest!) then that memory
i s l o s t beyond r e c a l l , but i f the memory had been such
t h a t the f a c e can be remembered, then u s i n g search procedures,
the b r a i n w i l l e v e n t u a l l y come up with the name.
What does seem to be a f a s c i n a t i n g enigma i s i n understanding
how the b r a i n i s able to make l i g h t n i n g d e c i s i o n s about
what i s important to remember and store, and what i s i r r e l e v a n t
and can be f o r g o t t e n .
These f a c t o r s are important when
one i s l o o k i n g a t eye-witness testimony i n the case o f
crimes having been witnessed. When someone i s a c t u a l l y
w i t n e s s i n g a crime b e i n g committed, a bank hold-up f o r
i n s t a n c e , n a t u r a l l y there w i l l be some r e l i a n c e on what
the witness a c t u a l l y sees a t the moment, and immediately
a f t e r the crime.
The b r a i n i s r e g i s t e r i n g the importance
o f remembering the i n c i d e n t s as they happen.
But, how
r e l i a b l e i s the memory o f someone who was i n the bank, say,
f o r ten o r f i f t e e n minutes before the crime, and who might
attempt to i d e n t i f y o t h e r customers, o r happenings?
If
e v e r y t h i n g appeared normal u n t i l the moment o f the crime, i t
i s l i k e l y that the memories o f those p r e v i o u s minutes are
l o s t , there b e i n g no reason to r e t a i n them.
More on t h i s
subject l a t e r .
While e x p e r t s g e n e r a l l y agree that there are a t l e a s t two
types o f memory - long-term and short-term - there seems
to be no unanimity of o p i n i o n as to how these f u n c t i o n .
Some b e l i e v e t h a t long-term memory i s simply an e x t e n s i o n
o f short-term memory, and that r e p e t i t i o n o f the experience
converts s h o r t i n t o long-term memory, while o t h e r b e l i e v e
that they are two d i f f e r e n t f u n c t i o n s .
Some r e s e a r c h e r s
b e l i e v e that there are three stages of memory.
The f i r s t

i s a complete sensory image o f j u s t - o c c u r r i n g events, (the

s o - c a l l e d I o n i c memory), the second and immediate, o r short-term
memory, which c o n t a i n s t h e l i m i t e d i n f o r m a t i o n we are a b l e to
e x t r a c t from the r a p i d l y decaying sensory image, and the
t h i r d , a permanent o r long-term memory with a very l a r g e
capacity.
I t i s p o s s i b l e to c o n s t r u c t many models o f
the i n t e r r e l a t i o n s h i p among v a r i o u s memory systems; the l i m i t
i s g i v e n only by the l i m i t s o f the i m a g i n a t i o n .
I t i s much
more d i f f i c u l t to t e s t the i m p l i c a t i o n s o f each model and
r e s t r i c t the s e t o f p o s s i b i l i t i e s .
Some p s y c h o l o g i s t s ,
on the o t h e r hand, f e e l there i s l i t t l e value i n making
d i s t i n c t i o n s among d i f f e r e n t memory processes, f o r they
b e l i e v e that memory i s one s i n g l e phenomenon which simply
appears to be d i f f e r e n t when examined by d i f f e r e n t experimental
techniques.
An ever i n c r e a s i n g amount o f evidence does seem
to f a v o u r the i n t e r p r e t a t i o n o f human memory as a p a r t o f
a complex chain o f processes which a r e i n v o l v e d i n the
h a n d l i n g o f i n f o r m a t i o n from i t s sensory r e p r e s e n t a t i o n to
i t s permanent storage.
These processes appear to have
d i f f e r e n t f u n c t i o n a l modes o f e x c i t a t i o n , although the i s s u e
of whether d i f f e r e n t p h y s i c a l s t r u c t u r e s are i n v o l v e d i s n o t
yet s e t t l e d .
Maby g i v e s the f o l l o w i n g d e f i n i t i o n "The c h i e f f u n c t i o n o f memory, whether as an autonomous
p s y c h i c f a c u l t y o f Mind, o r whether ( i n p a r t , a t l e a s t )
as an instinctive= i n p r e s s i o n a b i l i t y o f Matter (as i n our
examples o f mechanical, photographic, and magnetic r e c o r d i n g
techniques i n modern science) i s , o f course, to enable
the l i v i n g organism to u n i f y i t s whole e x i s t e n c e , past,
presn'ent, and f u t u r e , i n a coherent and harmonious way;
so t h a t i t may d u l y b e n e f i t by p a s t experience, and a c t
a p p r o p r i a t e l y on each f r e s h o c c a s i o n .
I t i s , furthermore,
a secondary and no l e s s important f u n c t i o n o f memory to
enable the i n d i v i d u a l to put two and two together so as
to make four, n o r s i x o r e i g h t , and thus to c a l c u l a t e and
p l a n ahead, to devise and scheme c r e a t i v e l y . "

Not transferred to next stage

and therefore forgotten

10-11 Hypothetical scheme of the human memory system. Sensory information enters a sensory register or "iconic" memory, where it
is held in detail for a brief period. Some of this information is transferred
to a short-term memory store (as in remembering a new telephone number
briefly). Some of the information in short-term memory can be transferred into long-term memory, usually by rehearsing or repeating it, and
other information from short-term memory is forgotten. When you remember something, it is transferred from long-term memory into shortterm memory. Short-term memory is roughly equivalent to consciousness
or awareness.
FIGURE

(After E. Loftus, Memory, Reading, M A : Addison-Wesley, 1980.)

HOW DO WE LEARN?
Many many books have been w r i t t e n , and endless experiments
conducted i n order to e x p l a i n how we l e a r n , and how we
may improve our l e a r n i n g a b i l i t i e s .
I t would be impossible
to summarize many o f them here, and indeed the i n t e r e s t e d
experimenter would f i n d i t easy to devise any number o f
experiments to s a t i s f y h i s o r h e r c u r i o u s i t y on any p a r t i c u l a r
point.
C e r t a i n f a c t s have been completely accepted over
the years, and a r e perhaps almost too obvious to need to
be s t a t e d . F i r s t and foremost i n o r d e r f o r memory to f u n c t i o n
the s u b j e c t must have an i n t e n t to l e a r n . I f one decides
not to memorize an experience, o r an event, o r a l i s t o f
words, then t h a t memory does n o t occur. Memory, by and
large, i s a deliberate a c t of w i l l .
T h i s probably came
about, in, the f i r s t p l a c e , as a p r o t e c t i v e d e v i c e .
We are
able to f o r g e t , and i n some circumstances t o t a l l y erase,
the memory o f unpleasant and traumatic experiences.
Here one needs to i n t e r j e c t a note o f c a u t i o n . We have
so f a r been t a l k i n g about conscious memory.
Later i n this
paper we s h a l l t a c k l e the s u b j e c t o f subconscious memories,
those memories f o r g o t t e n f o r the above reasons, o r l o s t

through the passage o f time, which may through such means

as hypnosis be retrieved and r e l i v e d .
Some o f these r e t r i e v e d
memories sometimes c o n t a i n m a t e r i a l which the s u b j e c t
has, a t the time, a p p a r e n t l y c o n s c i o u s l y r e j e c t e d .
But,
i n a simple type o f experiment, f o r i n s t a n c e , i f someone
r e c i t e s a l i s t o f names o r a r t i c l e s to a person who d e l i b e r a t e l y
and c o n s c i o u s l y r e f u s e s to attempt to memorise them, experiments
show that, a t t h a t time, the s u b j e c t i s then unable to
repeat the l i s t , the i n f o r m a t i o n has been d e l i b e r a t e l y r e j e c t e d .
A t t e n t i o n has to be p a i d to the i n f o r m a t i o n p r o f f e r e d , i n
order f o r the m a t e r i a l t o be memorized. Again, the f a m i l i a r
example i n everyday l i f e i s the absent-minded p r o f e s s o r , wrapt
i n h i s w r i t i n g o r t h i n k i n g , to whom q u i t e i n t e r e s t i n g and
e x c i t i n g i n f o r m a t i o n can be given, but because o f h i s
i n a t t e n t i o n the i n f o r m a t i o n i s t o t a l l y r e j e c t e d , and l a t e r
the person w i l l deny ever having heard, l e t alone remembered,
the information, gi^ren.
So, i n order to memorize something,
the w i l l to l e a r n must be present, and the a t t e n t i o n g i v e n
to the i n f o r m a t i o n presented.
Another f a c t t h a t i s w e l l known i s t h a t memory i s not a s k i l l ,
i n the sense t h a t w e i g h t l i f t i n g i s . I t used to be thought,
(and indeed by some people s t i l l i s ) t h a t i f one wants a good
memory one simply p r a c t i c e s memorization.
That i s to say,
p r a c t i c i n g memory e x e r c i e s alone does n o t improve one's
performance. W i l l i a m James, who performed many experiments
i n l e a r n i n g and memory techniques once t r a i n e d h i m s e l f
d a i l y i n the l e a r n i n g o f p o e t r y 'by h e a r t ' .
For eight
consecutive days he learned 158 l i n e s o f V i c t o r Hugo's
Satyr.
Then he spent 38 days l e a r n i n g the e n t i r e f i r s t
book o f Paradise Lost, expecting t h a t a l l t h i s e f f o r t would
have improved h i s memory.
But when he went back to V i c t o r
Hugo he found t h a t an a d d i t i o n a l 158 l i n e s took him, i f anything,
l o n g e r to l e a r n than the f i r s t s e t o f 158 l i n e s .
Apparently
no good had r e s u l t e d from h i s e f f o r t s .
Not t r u s t i n g these
r e s u l t s , James s e t out to t e s t a whole s e r i e s o f s u r p r i s i n g l y
d o c i l e f r i e n d s who spent many weeks l e a r n i n g many l i n e s o f
p o e t r y and found, on the whole, no improvement i n t h e i r
a b i l i t y to l e a r n m a t e r i a l a f t e r a l l t h e i r l a b o u r .
S t u d i e s of the e f f e c t o f performance i n one task upon l e a r n i n g
o r performance i n another task a r e c a l l e d s t u d i e s i n t r a n s f e r .
Thus, James' experiments on memory t r a i n i n g can be considered
experiments on t r a n s f e r o f memory s k i l l .
Although James
was c o r r e c t i n h i s c o n c l u s i o n t h a t p r a c t i c e alone does n o t
improve one's a b i l i t y to memorize, he was a b i t premature i n
concluding t h a t i t i s a l l wasted e f f o r t .
I t i s p o s s i b l e to
to l e a r n techniques which c o n s i d e r a b l y improve the s k i l l s o f
memory.
But p r a c t i c e i s u s e l e s s u n l e s s you know the r u l e s .
For example, i t h e l p s c o n s i d e r a b l y to form rhymes and to form
images and a s s o c i a t i o n s among the items to be learned.
I t helps
a l s o to r e l a x and have confidence i n one's own a b i l i t y to memorize.

James' experiment was repeated by Woodrow, o n l y with more

care. He wanted to see what improvement i n memorization
would come about a f t e r p r a c t i c e i n "proper methods o f
memorizing".
He found t h a t a group o f students who p r a c t i c e d
memorizing l i s t s f o r s e v e r a l hours d i d no b e t t e r than a
c o n t r o l group o f students who d i d not p r a c t i c e .
This
v e r i f i e d the c o n c l u s i o n reached by James.
But a group o f
students who were i n s t r u c t e d i n proper techniques o f memorizing
d i d much b e t t e r a f t e r the same amount o f study.
Thus, i n
memory, as i n most t h i n g s , sheer b l i n d p r a c t i c e i s o f l i t t l e
or no use;
informed l e a r n i n g o f a s e t o f r u l e s and techniques
does prove u s e f u l .
There are many methods and r u l e s t h a t have been based on
t h i s experimental data, and hundreds o f books on methods f o r
improving one's memory have been w r i t t e n .
They d i f f e r mainly
i n the s k i l l with which they are w r i t t e n and the dogmatism
with which t h e i r s e c r e t s are presented. But i n many cases
t h e i r content m e r i t s s e r i o u s c o n s i d e r a t i o n .
Some methods a r e r e l a t i v e l y simple - f o r i n s t a n c e we are
a l l f a m i l i a r with the ' i before e except a f t e r c' mnemonic,
and the rhyme " T h i r t y days hath September, A p r i l , J u n e and
November".
These types o f m e t r i c a l mnemonic a r e p o p u l a r
f o r they l e t us connect items which seem otherwise u n r e l a t e d
into a rhythmical pattern.
Rhyme can be used when the
d i f f i c u l t y i n memorization c e n t e r s around the d i f f i c u l t y o f
l e a r n i n g the proper o r d e r i n g . The rhymes e s t a b l i s h a r u l e
of o r g a n i z a t i o n that i s easy to l e a r n and apply. I n a sense
rhymes ( l i k e most mnemonic d e v i c e s ) serve t h e i r purpose too
well;
one who r e l i e s on rhymes f i n d s i t d i f f i c u l t to remember
one p a r t i c u l a r t h i n g (say how many days hath October?) without
r e c a l l i n g the rhyme i n i t s e n t i r e t y .
One p e c u l i a r method, but a s u r p r i s i n g l y powerful one, i s to
imagine t h a t the v a r i o u s items which are to be l e a r n e d are
located i n different physical locations ( l o c i ) .
Recall i s
accomplished by v i z u a l i z i n g each l o c a t i o n and thereby d i s c o v e r i n g
the o b j e c t . The use o f t h i s method was presented i n a
book w r i t t e n by the E n g l i s h h i s t o r i a n Dame Frances A Yates,
e n t i t l e d The A r t o f Memory. Yates s t a t e s i n t h i s book t h a t
one o f the advantages o f t h i s method i s t h a t the v a r i o u s l o c i
can be used over and over again f o r d i f f e r e n t memory e x e r c i s e s .
She says "The images which we have p l a c e d on them f o r remembering
one s e t of t h i n g s fade and are e f f a c e d when we make no f u r t h e r
use o f them. But the l o c i remain i n the memory and can be
used a g a i n by p l a c i n g another s e t o f images f o r another s e t o f
material.
The l o c i are l i k e the wax t a b l e t s which remain
when what i s w r i t t e n on them has been e f f a c e d and they are
ready to be w r i t t e n on a g a i n .
Hence the l o c i should be chosen
with some c a r e " .

I n a book (Plans and the S t r u c t u r e o f Behaviour), w r i t t e n

by George M i l l e r , Eugene Galanter and K a r l Pribam, the authors
d e s c r i b e the P l a n method o f l e a r n i n g and memory.
T h i s can
best be d e s c r i b e d by r e l a t i n g an example:
The authors say
"Here i s a Plan that you can use for remembering.
First
remember that One i s a bun
Two i s a shoe
three i s a t r e e
f o u r i s a door
f i v e i s a hive
s i x are s t i c k s
seven i s heaven
e i g h t i s a gate
nine i s a l i n e , and
ten i s a hen.
The second p a r t works l i k e t h i s - when we t e l l you a word
you must form a l u d i c r o u s or b i z a r r e a s s o c i a t i o n with the f i r s t
word on your l i s t , and so on with the ten words we r e c i t e to you.
Here are the words:
1.
2.
3.
k.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

ashtray
firewood
picture
cigarette
table
matchbook
glass
lamp
shoe
phonograph.

In the i n i t i a l experiment the words were read one a t a time

and a f t e r the word was read the experimenters they waited u n t i l
the s u b j e c t announced t h a t he had the a s s o c i a t i o n .
I t took about
f i v e seconds on the average to form the connection.
After
the seventh word he s a i d t h a t he was sure t h a t the f i r s t s i x
were a l r e a d y f o r g o t t e n .
But we persevered.
A f t e r one t r i a l through the l i s t , we waited a minute o r two
so t h a t he could c o l l e c t h i m s e l f and ask any questions t h a t came
to mind.
Then we s a i d "What i s number e i g h t ? "
He s t a r e d
b l a n k l y , and then a smile crossed h i s face " I ' l l be damned"
he s a i d " I t ' s 'lamp'"
"Arfiwhat number i s c i g a r e t t e ? "
He laughed o u t r i g h t now and then gave the c o r r e c t answer.
"And there i s no s t r a i n " he s a i d " a b s o l u t e l y no sweat".
We

proceeded to demonstrate that he

could i n f a c t name every

word c o r r e c t l y , and then asked "Do you t h i n k that memorizing

c o n s i s t s o f p i l i n g up increments o f response strength t h a t
accumulate as the words are repeated?"
The q u e s t i o n was
l o s t i n h i s amazement.""
We quote the above experiment i n some d e t a i l as i t a p t l y
demonstrates the Plan method o f word a s s o c i a t i o n f o r memorization.
Another technique f o r l e a r n i n g long l i s t s o f items o r
numbers i s t h a t known as a n a l y t i c s u b s t i t u t i o n . U s i n g t h i s
method the s u b j e c t changes numbers i n t o sounds, sounds i n t o
words, and words i n t o sentences. C r e d i t f o r t h i s system
seems to l i e with S t a n i s l a u s Mink von Wenussheim (otherwise
known as Winkelmann) who developed a scheme f o r r e p r e s e n t i n g
numbers by consonants i n 1648.
Winkelmann's scheme e v i d e n t l y
i s the b a s i s f o r almost every subsequent memory system,
a l t o u g h few people ever gave him c r e d i t .
An example o f t h i s
technique i s as f o l l o w s .
Suppose t h a t you wish to f i n d out
what words w i l l t r a n s l a t e the date o f the settlement o f
Jamestown, Va, 1607.
You p l a c e the f i g u r e s under each other,
as below, and then you p l a c e a t the r i g h t hand o f each f i g u r e
the consonants which t r a n s l a t e i t .
1
6
0
7

= t, th, d.
= sh, j , ch, g s o f t (as i n gem)
= s, z, c s o f t (as i n cease)
= g hard, k, c hard, q and ng.

By experimenting you soon f i n d the f o l l o w i n g phrases w i l l

r e p r e s e n t 1607; as "A Dutch Song", "Dash a Sack", "To Wash
a Sock", "The Choosing", "The Chasing", "Touches a Key" e t c .
T h i s method i s extremely complicated , but i t does seem to
work, a l b e i t a t the cost o f a l a r g e i n i t i a l investment by the
user i n the time and e f f o r t r e q u i r e d to l e a r n the system i n
the f i r s t p l a c e .
What i s i t about mnemonic systems t h a t improves our a b i l i t y
to memorize?
A l l the system^s seem to share common emphasis
on o r g a n i z a t i o n .
E v i d e n t l y one j u s t cannot go about
memorizing t h i n g s as they happen.
One has to organize the
m a t e r i a l , group i t i n t o meaningful s t r u c t u r e s , form unique
and b i z a r r e a s s o c i a t i o n s , and tuck i t away i n memory a c c o r d i n g to
a formal orderly plan.
I f the m a t e r i a l does not lend i t s e l f
to v i s u a l i z a t i o n and a s s o c i a t i o n s as i t stands, i t must be
transformed by the use of key words or a n a l y t i c s u b s t i t u t i o n s
u n t i l images can be used.
The emphasis on the s t r u c t u r e o f s t o r e d m a t e r i a l , whether
i t be imposed by rhythmic techniques, f o r m a l l y l e a r n e d
memory l o c i , o r unique v i v i d imagery, i n d i c a t e s that the
d i f f i c u l t y i n memorizing m a t e r i a l has more to do with
r e t r i e v a l than with storage i t s e l f .
I f storage d f i n f o r m a t i o n

were the b o t t l e n e c k , one would h a r d l y wish to use a mnemonic

device which i n c r e a s e d the amount o f i n f o r m a t i o n to be s t o r e d .
Yet every technique we have examined appears to do j u s t t h a t .
Nowhere i n the l i t e r a t u r e i
y t e m which t r i e s to condense
and s i m p l i f y the m a t e r i a l ; every system e n r i c h e s and adds to the
information.
The i m p l i c a t i o n i s t h a t o r g a n i z a t i o n p l a y s an
important r o l e i n r e t r i e v a l .
sa

RETRIEVAL OF MEMORY.
In the p r e v i o u s p a r t o f t h i s paper we have been t a l k i n g
about i n t e n t i o n a l memorization o f sometimes d i f f i c u l t and
u n r e l a t e d m a t e r i a l , and how t h i s m a t e r i a l can be r e t r i e v e d
on cue and a t short n o t i c e . But the i n t e n t i o n a l memorization
o f m a t e r i a l i s only a small p a r t o f our whole memory system.
There a r e those who say t h a t every s i n g l e experience we.have
had i n our e n t i r e l i v e s i s stored i n our memory bank, and
can be r e t r i e v e d under r i g h t and favourable
circumstances.
The problem, they say, i s not absorbing the memory, i t i s
i n the a b i l i t y to r e c a l l and r e t r i e v e t h a t memory when
required.
One's a b i l i t y to l e a r n , they say, i s a r e f l e c t i o n
o n l y o f the a b i l i t y to r e t r i e v e m a t e r i a l from our memory
system.
We o n l y use some ten p e r cent o f our b r a i n power
say these same people, the other n i n e t y - p e r cent i s g e n e r a l l y
unused. I f we could only c a l l t h i s other 90$ i n t o everyday
use we would a l l be super geniuses.
I t i s c e r t a i n l y true
that a v e r y l a r g e p a r t o f our experiences a r e l o s t to
immediate r e c a l l , and there i s a great d e a l o f t r u t h i n
the above statements.
We would l i k e to expound l a t e r i n
t h i s paper, however, about the p o s s i b i l i t y t h a t some experiences,
and perhaps thoughts, a r e completely l o s t through the
mechanism o f what we c a l l 'house-keeping dreams'.
However
f o r the moment, l e t us accept the statement t h a t no experience
i s t o t a l l y l o s t from our memory banks, and t h a t i f we o n l y had
the r i g h t key we could both unlock a l l these memories, and
become i n s t a n t l y able to l e a r n anything we wished i n a s h o r t
space o f time.
The average layperson, confronted with the p o s s i b i l i t y t h a t
h i s o r h e r memory bank i s s t i l l loaded with a l l the experiences
of a l i f e t i m e , f i n d s i t d i f f i c u l t to b e l i e v e t h a t the
b r a i n could c o n t a i n so much i n f o r m a t i o n . However, o f r e c e n t
years, f o l l o w i n g the i n v e n t i o n and extensive use o f computer
systems, i t i s p o s s i b l e to understand that t h i s could indeed
be p o s s i b l e .
Books have been w r i t t e n l i k e n i n g the b r a i n
to some k i n d o f super-computer, and people today, e s p e c i a l l y
young people born d u r i n g the computer age, have no d i f f i c u l t y
i n r e l a t i n g to t h i s concept.
I t i s true t h a t although
memories fade with the passage o f time, the average person
i s a b l e to r e c a l l i n c i d e n t s , people, events, connected with
t h e i r v e r y e a r l y childhood.
The l e s s o n s l e a r n e d i n c h i l d h o o d

remain with us throughout our l i f e t i m e .

C e r t a i n l y , there
i s some degree o f reinforcement, and m a t e r i a l n o t needed
tends to fade i n t o the background o f memory, w h i l s t other
m a t e r i a l , r e g u l a r l y used, i s f r e s h and e a s i l y r e c a l l e d .
Of r e c e n t years much a t t e n t i o n has been p a i d to methods
d i r e c t e d n o t so much a t l e a r n i n g m a t e r i a l , but a t how to
r e t r i e v e m a t e r i a l a l r e a d y present, o r somewhat c a s u a l l y
learnt.
The i m p l i c a t i o n o f some o f these methods i s that
one does n o t need to a c t i v e l y l e a r n m a t e r i a l f o r i t to
become p a r t o f the memory system, but one needs to know
how to r e t r i e v e t h i s m a t e r i a l .
Much a t t e n t i o n has been given to methods which i n v o l v e
the s u b j e c t s being put, o r p u t t i n g themselves, i n an a l t e r e d
state o f consciousness i n order to e f f e c t t h i s r e t r i e v a l .
The suggestions are t h a t i t i s p o s s i b l e to make contact with
the 'subconscious' s e l f , the supposedly i n a c t i v e p a r t o f the
b r a i n , where memories a r e stored, and i n t h i s s t a t e o f mind
l e a r n both the a b i l i t y to memorize and r e t r i e v e g i v e n
information.
The l a y p e r s o n w i l l be aware o f an everyday experience common
to most.
I n an e f f o r t to r e c a l l an e l u s i v e memory many
people w i l l s t a t e they w i l l 'sleep on i t ' , meaning t h a t they
w i l l sleep t h a t n i g h t , with a d e s i r e i n t h e i r minds to
c o n s c i o u s l y r e t r i v e the wanted i n f o r m a t i o n , and d u r i n g the
passage o f sleep, the mind w i l l , i n some mysterious way,
search and r e t r i e v e the looked f o r answer.
Many many people
can r e l a t e i n s t a n c e s o f how i n f o r m a t i o n has been r e t r i e v e d
from memory d u r i n g sleep t h a t they could not c o n s c i o u s l y
r e c a l l when awake.
During the s l e e p i n g and dreaming process
the conscious mind and the subconscious mind ( f o r want
o f b e t t e r words to express t h i s phenomenon) w i l l communicate
and the i n f o r m a t i o n r e t r i e v e d i n t o the conscious mind, ready
f o r use when the subject awakens.
Some people b e l i e v e that i n p u t o f i n f o r m a t i o n i n t o the memory
can be achieved d u r i n g the s l e e p i n g s t a t e , and many students,
before an examination go to bed the n i g h t s before with a
tape r e c o r d e r under t h e i r p i l l o w , the tape r e c i t i n g the
i n f o r m a t i o n they may be needed to know i n the next days.
They b e l i e v e that they can store i n f o r m a t i o n i n t h i s way.
I n a s i m i l a r way, many people b e l i e v e t h a t they can l e a r n
a language more e f f e c i e n t l y i f they sleep with a tape r e c o r d e r
p l a y i n g messages i n the chosen language while they s l e e p .
B u i l d i n g on these ideas, s e v e r a l experimenters have de-vised
l e a r n i n g systems which, as we have s a i d , depend on the l e a r n e r
being p l a c e d i n an a l t e r e d s t a t e o f consciousness, e i t h e r
s e l f - i n d u c e d , o r induced by the experimenter.

One o f the most well-known and p o p u l a r o f such methods

was d e v i s e d by a B u l g a r i a n , Dr. Lozanov, working a t h i s
I n s t i t u t e o f Suggestology and Parapsychology.
H i s methods
s t a r t e d to become known to the western world i n the e a r l y
1970's.
Dr. Lozanov was i n t e r e s t e d i n the l e a r n i n g experience
but a l s o i n h i s methods as d e v e l o p i n g a person's own
s p i r i t u a l a b i l i t i e s , and h e a l i n g powers.
Nevertheless
h i s methods f o r r e c a l l of memory seemed to be s p e c t a c u l a r ,
and met with g r e a t i n t e r e s t among people who were not
n e c e s s a r i l y i n t e r e s t e d i n the p s y c h i c o r s p i r i t u a l a s p e c t s
of the method. By 1976 there were seventeen p u b l i c
schools i n B u l g a r i a which were u s i n g h i s methods f o r t e a c h i n g
c h i l d r e n , and our own Government i n Ottawa s e t up some
experimental programmes i n s t a t e schools i n the c a p i t a l .
The programme i s o b v i o u s l y u s e f u l , e s p e c i a l l y i n h e l p i n g
c h i l d r e n with l e a r n i n g d i s a b i l i t i e s , and i s c u r r e n t l y used
i n some schools i n the western world.
The method i s r e l a t i v e l y simple, and one that we have
become accusomted to o f r e c e n t years, combining as i t does,
some o f the methods o f s e l f - h y p n o s i s used by e a s t e r n y o g i s ,
and methods o f self-hypnotism, coupled with reinforcement and
assurance that the subject can perform the t a s k s he o r she
i s e x p e c t i n g to do.
Many commercial methods have grown
out o f t h i s o r i g i n a l work, and along with the technique o f
biofeedback, which has a l s o become well-known and well-used
i n r e c e n t years, many people are f a m i l i a r with, and use
one o r other of these methods i n t h e i r d a i l y l i f e .
However, i t i s important to remember one o r two p o i n t s
when advocating these methods o f l e a r n i n g .
As we have s a i d
e a r l i e r , we do, as i n d i v i d u a l s , seem to have d i f f e r i n g
c a p a c i t i e s f o r absorbing i n f o r m a t i o n and thereby memories.
I f the b r a i n i s damaged, e i t h e r by trauma, o r chemical
inbalance,
no amount o f attempts a t r e t r i e v a l can
r e c a l l what has not been recorded. I f the t a p e - r e c o r d e r
i s f a u l t y , and the message has not been recorded, i t cannot
be r e t r i e v e d ;
i f the computer has not been p r o p e r l y
programmed i t cannot feed back the i n f o r m a t i o n .
And,
more i m p o r t a n t l y , i n f o r m a t i o n i s recorded i n v a r y i n g manner we do not j u s t r e g i s t e r i n f o r m a t i o n l i k e a tape-recorder;
i t i s coloured by our own emotions, e x p e c t a t i o n s , experiences,
and d e s i r e s .
The same m a t e r i a l f e d i n t o d i f f e r e n t people's
memories may come out so d i f f e r e n t l y as to be completely
unrecognizable as the same m a t e r i a l .
I t i s v e r y important
not to look a t the b r a i n e x a c t l y as i f i t were indeed
a computer o r tape r e c o r d e r .
I t i s not a simple automatic
process by any manner of means.

We w i l l expand f u r t h e r on the u n r e l i a b i l i t y o f memory

i n a l a t e r s e c t i o n devoted to the value o f eye-witness
testimony.
But when d i s c u s s i n g the v a r i o u s methods
advocated to improve memory one needs to look a l i t t l e
c l o s e l y a t the r o l e o f hypnotism.
Methods o f s e l f - h y p n o s i s
are r e l a t i v e l y harmless, and are c e r t a i n l y most v a l u a b l e
t o o l s i n a s s i s t i n g the s u b j e c t to r e c a l l g e n e r a l everyday
information.
The use o f an outside h y p n o t i s t i n memory
r e c a l l i s another matter e n t i r e l y .
Hypnotized s u b j e c t s
are i n an extremely s u g g e s t i b l e s t a t e , and may, i n f a c t
be f a n t a s i z i n g when asked to r e c a l l events- t h a t have
happened to them.
HYPNOSIS AND MEMORY.
Most people b e l i e v e t h a t a h y p n o t i s t can a s s i s t a s u b j e c t
to r e c a l l memories that have apparently been f o r g o t t e n .
While t h i s may be true when something simple and d i r e c t ,
such as a mathematical t a b l e learned i n e a r l y childhood,
i s i n v o l v e d , i n most other aspects o f memory r e c a l l the
claims may w e l l be f a l l a c i o u s .
Hypnosis has reached a
degree o f p o p u l a r i t y as a t o o l f o r u s i n g i n h e l p i n g witnesses
o f crimes to r e c a l l d e t a i l s o f the event.
As we have s a i d e a r l i e r , i n order f o r a memory to be r e t r i e v e d
i t has to have been r e g i s t e r e d i n the f i r s t p l a c e . We have
seen how much o f what we experience goes immediately i n t o
short term memory, and some o f i t does, i n f a c t , seem to be
r e a l l y l o s t beyond r e c a l l .
While our b r a i n s do r e t a i n ,
c o n s c i o u s l y o r unconsciously, a tremendous amount o f t r i v i a l
m a t e r i a l , and keep t h i s m a t e r i a l f o r a l o n g p e r i o d o f time,
there i s no doubt t h a t an enormous amount o f i r r e l e v a n t
m a t e r i a l i s not retained.
We do n o t remember every person
we have met on the s t r e e t , every c o n v e r s a t i o n with every
shop a s s i s t a n t , every word we have read i n a book o r newspaper
some m a t e r i a l i s indeed t o t a l l y d i s c a r d e d .
A l o t of this
m a t e r i a l i s d i s c a r d e d i n s t a n t l y , and so, while a person
w i t n e s s i n g a crime might v e r y w e l l be able to r e c a l l some
i n c i d e n t s immediately subsequent to the event, as presumably
some impact i s made on the memory and l e a r n i n g processes,
t h i n g s that may have happened immediately before the crime
might very w e l l have n o t been r e g i s t e r e d , and thus are n o t
available.
Another f a c t o r i n the use o f a h y p n o t i s t i s the f a c t that
i n the s u g g e s t i b l e state t h a t i s produced under hypnosis, the
s u b j e c t develops a r e l a t i o n s h i p , a rapport, with the h y p n o t i s t
and i n a f a s h i o n r a t h e r s i m i l a r to the r e l a t i o n s h i p betweem

a p s y c h i a t r i s t and h i s p a t i e n t , there i s present a d e s i r e

to p l e a s e , a subconscious wish to produce the 'memory' that
the h y p n o t i s t i s hoping f o r . T h i s i s p a r t i c u l a r l y l i a b l e
to happen i f the h y p n o t i s t h i m s e l f g i v e s unconscious c l u e s
as to h i s e x p e c t a t i o n s .
So, o f t e n t o t a l l y i n n o c e n t l y , the
s u b j e c t w i l l produce the memories the h y p n o t i s t i s e x p e c t i n g
and hoping f o r .
I t has been proved by experimenters d u r i n g r e c e n t years
t h a t hypnosis i s most u s e f u l i n r e c a l l i n g v i s u a l images;
t h a t e i d e t i c imagery, t h a t v i v i d , n e a r - t o t a l r e c a l l o f
images, which i s almost e x c l u s i v e l y a t a l e n t of childhood,
can be recovered by mature s u b j e c t s under hypnosis.
A reviewer o f one such a r t i c l e makes the f o l l o w i n g comments:
"The r e s u l t s o f R e l i n g e r ' s survey makes one wonder whether
the human b r a i n i s s p e c i a l l y "wired" of" b u i l t to e f f i c i e n t l y
handle v i s u a l imagery that i s 'meaningful' i n the contect of
human experience and t h e o r e t i c a l e x p e c t a t i o n s .
T h i s k i n d of
c o n s t r u c t i o n i s q u i t e d i f f e r e n t from computer memories which
process meaningless data as e a s i l y as meaningful data.
UFOs,
sea monsters, N-rays, e t c . might j u s t be e i d e t i c images from
human memories evoked by c e r t a i n s t i m u l i and encouraged by
suggestion.
F i n a l l y , when t a l k i n g about hypnosis, the h y p n o t i s t i s o n l y
able to r e t r i e v e what the s u b j e c t him or h e r s e l f b e l i e v e s to
be the t r u e memory, whether t h a t memory indeed has r e a l i t y
o r not.
I n c r e a s i n g l y we become aware t h a t memory i s not
j u s t a f l a t record, l i k e a tape r e c o r d i n g , or a photograph,
but what i s stored i n our memory banks i s a l t e r e d and coloured
by other a s p e c t s o f our p e r s o n a l i t y .
We are a l l t o t a l l y
d i f f e r e n t as i n d i v i d u a l s , and j u s t as our p e r c e p t i o n s o f our
everyday surroundings d i f f e r , so does what we s t o r e i n our
memories vary, even o f the same, perhaps simple and mundane
event.
Endless experiments have been done to prove t h i s ,
and we can a l l devise our own experiments, indeed many e x i s t
i n the form o f p a r t y games which we have a l l p l a y e d a t some
time or another.
THE

FANTASY-PRONE PERSONALITY.

Of r e c e n t years some v e r y i n t e r e s t i n g work has been done

on r e s e a r c h i n g what has become known as The Fantasy-Prone
Personality!" We a t t a c h a copy o f a r e p o r t on t h i s s u b j e c t
by S h e r y l C. Wilson and Theodore Barber o f Cushing H o s p i t a l ,
Framlingham, Massachusetts and produced i n September 1982.
Research has shown t h a t a s u r p r i s i n g l y high p r o p o r t i o n o f
the p o p u l a t i o n i s to some degree fantasy-prone, and between
5 and 10% o f the p o p u l a t i o n i s so a f f e c t e d that they are
a t times unable to d i s t i n g u i s h r e a l i t y from fantasy.
fe

T h i s , o f course, w i l l have an obvious e f f e c t on memory

and r e c a l l .
T y p i c a l l y , the fantasy-prone s u b j e c t s as c h i l d r e n l i v e d i n
a make-believe world much o f the time.
They b e l i e v e d
t h e i r toys were a l i v e , had f e e l i n g s , and had a unique
personality.
More than h a l f played and i n t e r a c t e d with
imaginary companions, r e p o r t i n g t h a t they c l e a r l y saw,
heard, and f e l t them i n the same way they p e r c e i v e d
l i v i n g people and animals.
The f a n t a s i z e r s t y p i c a l l y r e p o r t e d that when they were
c h i l d r e n they would become one of the c h a r a c t e r s i n a book
they were reading, they would see, hear, f e e l and experience
the c h a r a c t e r ' s l i f e .
Sometimes c h a r a c t e r s from these books
became imaginary companions.
When these f a n t a s i z e r s become a d u l t s the extensiveness
and v i v i d n e s s o f t h e i r f a n t a s i e s do not s i g n i f i c a n t l y
decrease.
From a v e r y young age, and c o n t i n u i n g i n t o the
present, they t y p i c a l l y spend a l a r g e p a r t of t h e i r l i f e
f a n t a s i z i n g , they f e e l they p r a c t i c a l l y l i v e t h e i r l i v e s
in fantasy.
They have a s e c r e t f a n t a s y l i f e which they
r e v e a l to no one.
F a n t a s i z i n g i s as necessary to them as
e a t i n g or s l e e p i n g .
The a r t i c l e goes on to s t a t e that
s i x t y - f i v e o f the f a n t a s i z e r s u s u a l l y experience t h e i r
f a n t a s i e s "as r e a l as r e a l " (as h a l l u c i n a t o r y ) i n a l l
sense m o d a l i t i e s .
They see e q u a l l y w e l l with t h e i r eyes
open or c l o s e d , imagined aromas are smelled, sounds are heard,
and t a c t i l e s e n s a t i o n s are f e l t as c o n v i n c i n g l y as those
produced by a c t u a l s t i m u l i .
T h e i r memories are a l s o
hallucinatory.
When immersed i n f a n t a s y they do not ask
whether t h e i r experiences are r e a l .
A s t r i k i n g c h a r a c t e r i s t i c shared by most of the fantasy-prone
p e r s o n a l i t i e s i s t h e i r unusual v i v i d p e r s o n a l memories.
When they are r e c a l l i n g a p a s t experience they b r i n g i t i n t o
the p r e s e n t space and time, r e c a l l i n g and r e - e x p e r i e n c i n g
the s e n s a t i o n s they f e l t i n the o r i g i n a l s i t u a t i o n .
In
c o n t r a s t , s u b j e c t s i n a c o n t r o l group, when r e c a l l i n g a
p r e v i o u s experience remember back, and the experience i s
i n the past, not i n the p r e s e n t .
These f a n t a s i z i n g s u b j e c t s a l s o appear to have l i t t l e
childhood amnesia. Many o f them have v i v i d memories o f
events t h a t occurred before t h e i r t h i r d b i r t h d a y .
However,
a small number o f these f a n t a s i z e r s have amnesia f o r c e r t a i n
times and events i n t h e i r l i v e s , p a r t i c u l a r l y i n regard
to p a i n f u l or traumatic happenings, the m o t i v i a t i o n not to

r e c a l l unpleasant events can become e x c e p t i o n a l l y s t r o n g ,

as they tend to r e l i v e the experience and to f e e l the a s s o c i a t e d
emotions as i f they are o c c u r r i n g i n the p r e s e n t .
T h i s study r e s u l t e d from work done to f i n d out the k i n d
of p e r s o n a l i t y most l i k e l y to respond to hypnotism.
The fantasy-prone p e r s o n a l i t i e s studied were a l l e x c e l l e n t
hypnotic subjects.
From the above study i t seems c l e a r that memory f u n c t i o n s
i n d i f f e r e n t ways i n d i f f e r e n t people, and on a much wider
b a s i s than was p r e v i o u s l y supposed. I t i s c l e a r , t h a t
f o r many people, memory i s t o t a l l y u n r e l i a b l e , s i n c e when the
memories were stored i n the f i r s t p l a c e the s u b j e c t wag

unable to d i s t i n g u i s h between f a n t a s y and r e a l i t y .

^
r e s t o f the p o p u l a t i o n may f a l l p a r t l y i n t o the r o l e o f the
f a n t a sy-prone.
n

FORGETTING.
I t seems a p p r o p r i a t e to w r i t e a few l i n e s about the p r o c e s s
o f f o r g e t t i n g , and why we f o r g e t ;
with perhaps some
s p e c u l a t i o n as to how t h i s f o r g e t t i n g i s accomplished.
S t u d i e s have shown c l e a r l y t h a t we a l l , i n some degree
o r another, f o r g e t , or attempt to f o r g e t , unpleasant
and traumatic experiences. These, however, are not so
much f o r g o t t e n , as repressed and b u r i e d deep i n our memory
system, and they may be r e t r i e v e d e i t h e r by some l a t e r
a s s o c i a t i o n , or by means of hypnosis.
I n the same way we d i s m i s s , and d e l i b e r a t e l y attempt to
f o r g e t f a c t s and events which do not i n t e r e s t us, and a g a i n
some of these memories can be r e t r i e v e d a t a l a t e r date,
e i t h e r through an unexpected need to r e c a l l , or by hypnosis.
But other experiences seem to become t o t a l l y erased, i n
s p i t e o f the p o p u l a r theory t h a t nothing, once experienced,
i s completely f o r g o t t e n .
Some of these have been mentioned
i n the course of t h i s a r t i c l e ;
people passed on the s t r e e t s ,
c a s u a l c o n v e r s a t i o n s o f the one-of-a-kind v a r i e t y , and the
like.
We would l i k e a l s o to i n c l u d e i n t h i s category the
c a s u a l thoughts and mental o b s e r v a t i o n s t h a t one experiences
d u r i n g the course o f a day.
We haven't p a i d much a t t e n t i o n
to thoughts, but these are j u s t as much a p a r t o f our d a i l y
experience as other events.

We b e l i e v e that many o f these memory t r a c e s are d e a l t

with d u r i n g the dreaming process.
We have been s t u d y i n g
the f u n c t i o n o f dreams f o r many years, and as r e a d e r s of
our e a r l i e r paper w i l l r e c a l l we mentioned 'house-cleaning'
as a f u n c t i o n o f dreaming. We d i d not e l a b o r a t e unduly
on t h i s aspect i n t h a t paper, but we were r e f e r r i n g to
the g e n e r a l l y h e l d b e l i e f t h a t one o f the f u n c t i o n s o f
dreaming i s to, so to speak, t i d y up the v a r i o u s events
o f the day that have occurred, and d e a l with the memories.
These dreams u s u a l l y occur i n the e a r l i e r p a r t o f the n i g h t ,
and so, u n l e s s one b r i e f l y awakens around two or three
o'clock, and i s able to remember the dream immediately
p r e c e d i n g the awakening, t h i s m a t e r i a l i s u s u a l l y l o s t .
These dreams are a l s o , ( u n l e s s one has t r a i n e d o n e s e l f to
r e c o r d immediately,) completely f o r g o t t e n before morning,
and prove almost i f not t o t a l l y impossible to r e c a l l .
I t i s our b e l i e f t h a t t h i s i s the process by which
the t r i v i a l events o f the day are f o r g o t t e n , i n c l u d i n g the
thoughts and mental processes t h a t do not need to be
retained.
We would l i k e to i l l u s t r a t e t h i s by a r e c e n t example.
One of us (IMO) had a p a r t i c u l a r l y busy day r e c e n t l y when
s e v e r a l events occurred t h a t would be s t o r e d i n long-term
memory. A c o n v e r s a t i o n was h e l d with an o l d f r i e n d , r e v e a l i n g
some dramatic i n f o r m a t i o n ; a f i l m was seen that was both
i n t e r e s t i n g , and dramatic, and we went out to d i n n e r i n
the evening.
There was a g r e a t d e a l o f m a t e r i a l i n the
day to comprise the s t u f f of dreams.
But I (IMO) d i d
not dream anything r e l a t e d to these events.
I awoke a t
around 2 p.m. having dreamed a v e r y f a n c i f u l and e l a b o r a t e
dream, i n v o l v i n g a l o n g r i d e i n the car, when we had on
one o c c a s i o n to brake suddenly i n order to a v o i d s k i d d i n g
i n t o a d i t c h - a long country walk, through mud and water,
d u r i n g which I became worried about the cream c o l o u r e d
coat I was wearing and saying to myself,"I w i l l have to get
t h i s coat cleaned a f t e r a l l " ; an encounter with a group
o f teenage boys and g i r l s , a l l dressed i n I r i s h costumes,
l e a d i n g to a d i s c u s s i o n with them, and the person I was
with about the problems o f I r e l a n d - t h i s t a k i n g p l a c e on
the lawns i n f r o n t o f a l a r g e and b e a u t i f u l country house.
I was e a s i l y able to i d e n t i f y the threads o f t h i s dream,
and to r e a l i s e that they were the remnants o f thoughts
I had had d u r i n g the p r e v i o u s ( e x c i t i n g ) day, that had been
woven t o g e t h e r i n t o a f a n c i f u l whole, d e s t i n e d ( i f I had
not recorded i t immediately) to be completely f o r g o t t e n .
During the day I had taken something out o f the c l o s e t
next to the cream coat, and had wondered b r i e f l y , whether
I had remembered to have f i cleaned before i t was put away,
and then decided i t wasn't important a t t h a t time;
the
c a r had gone to the garage f o r tune-up, and the mechanic

had telephoned to say that he had managed to get some brake

p a r t s f o r t h i s p a r t i c u l a r type o f o l d car, and would we
l i k e them put i n , as the brakes were probably g e t t i n g to the
p o i n t where they would need a t t e n t i o n . I f e l t p l e a s e d that
t h i s was being done, although we had not been worried
about the brakes p r e v i o u s l y .
There had been a programme
about I r e l a n d a d v e r t i s e d on the t e l e v i s i o n , and I had planned
to watch i t , but when we went out to dinner I thought,
b r i e f l y , t h a t I would not see the programme. The house
where I met the youngsters i n my dream was the house i n
which the a c t i o n i n the f i l m had taken p l a c e , and I had
thought, while watching, that i t might have been a house I
had once v i s i t e d on a tour o f h i s t o r i c homes.
The p o i n t of t h i s somewhat lengthy e x p l a n a t i o n i s t h a t
a l l the memories that comprised that dream were memories
o f thoughts, and mental processes, not a c t u a l events, and
they were strung together i n a f a n c i f u l dream d e s t i n e d to
be f o r g o t t e n .
None o f the p a r t i c u l a r thoughts were
worth remembering or r e t a i n i n g , they had a l l been d e a l t
with.
Dreaming may be the method by which we erase
the t o t a l l y unecessary memories.
EYEWITNESS TESTIMONY.
How good a witness are we?
How good, then i s memory?
We have d i s c u s s e d some o f what we would l i k e to say here i n
s:. p r e v i o u s paper, " V i s i o n and Perceptions Auras and I l l u s i o n s "
In t h a t paper we made the p o i n t that v i s i o n i s not a
separate f u n c t i o n , our eyes are CLn i n t e g r a l p a r t of the
p e r c e p t i o n o f the b r a i n i t s e l f .
Information r e c e i v e d
through the eyes i s co-ordinated with a l l the other senses,
p l u s our experiences o f memory, expectation, emotional
s t a t e and so on.
I n the same way, our f a c u l t i e s o f memory are not i s o l a t e d
from the r e s t of our p e r c e p t i o n s .
The way i n which
we see, or hear something, the i n t e r p r e t a t i o n we put upon
the event, our own p e r s o n a l i t y p r o f i l e s , a l l have a b e a r i n g
on the form i n which the memory i s stored, how a c c u r a t e l y
i t i s stored, and the p o s s i b i l i t y of i t s r e t r i e v a l .
Memory i s , so to speak, the accumulated i n f o r m a t i o n
s t o r e d as a r e s u l t of the p e r c e p t i o n s o f the b r a i n , as f e d
i n by a l l the sensory p r o c e s s e s (which i n c l u d e the a b s t r a c t
sensory p r o c e s s e s such as emotion, imagination, e t c . as
w e l l as the t a c t i l e processes o f touch, smell, e t c . ) .
I n f o r m a t i o n fed i n t o the memory process, i n other words,
may be d i s t o r t e d from r e a l i t y by emotion, misunderstanding,
e x p e c t a t i o n , or other f a c t o r s .
Such information, when
r e t r i e v e d , by whatever means, w i l l remain d i s t o r t e d and
inaccurate.
T h i s i s why what we c a l l eye-witness testimony
may be t o t a l l y and completely u n r e l i a b l e .
I t i s c l e a r that when a s s e s s i n g memory f u n c t i o n , i f the
m a t e r i a l r e t r i e v e d i s to be used i n any s i g n i f i c a n t way, i t
i s important to d i s c o v e r whether i n f a c t the stored m a t e r i a l

was l i k e l y to "be r e l i a b l e i n the f i r s t p l a c e . I t may be

easy to r e t r i e v e s t o r e d memories from c e r t a i n people, but i f
the memories d i d not r e f l e c t the events they p u r p o r t to d e s c r i b e
with any degree o f accuracy, they are then w o r t h l e s s .
HOW TO IMPROVE MEMORY.
To some extent we have so f a r been t a l k i n g about l e a r n i n g
and memory i n r e l a t i o n s h i p to e i t h e r l e a r n i n g p r o c e s s e s as
a p p l i e d to s c h o l a s t i c matters.,, o r memory i n r e l a t i o n to
events one might wish to r e c a l l .
What about the everyday
memory processes t h a t enable us to go about our d a i l y l i v i n g
with some degree o f confidence and a b i l i t y ?
As we s a i d
a t the b e g i n n i n g o f t h i s paper we l i t e r a l l y could n o t l i v e
our l i v e s e f f e c t i v e l y i f our memories were n o t f u n c t i o n i n g .
I t i s an i n t e r e s t i n g paradox t h a t as we grow o l d e r our more
recent memories tend to fade, w h i l s t memories o f e a r l y l i f e
and c h i l d h o o d remain, o r i n some cases seem to grow more
vivid.
Much r e s e a r c h i s c u r r e n t l y being conducted on
the problems o f memory and s e n i l i t y , and o f d i s e a s e s o f ageing
such as Alzheimer's d i s e a s e .
People s u f f e r i n g from Alzheimer's
disease, u n t i l f a i r l y r e c e n t l y , were b e l i e v e d to s u f f e r from
the e f f e c t s o f s e n i l i t y , which were b e l i e v e d to i n c l u d e memory
loss.
Now i t i s thought t h a t e l d e r l y people a r e i n f a c t
j u s t as able to produce r e c a l l o f events as younger people;
they may j u s t need a l i t t l e l o n g e r time to go through the
process.
Those e l d e r l y people who s u f f e r from extensive
l o s s o f memory a r e i n f a c t s u f f e r i n g from p h y s i c a l damage to
t h e i r memory systems, e i t h e r through disease o r chemical
inbalance.
A v i c t i m o f Alzheimer's disease i s indeed i n
s o r r y s t r a i t s as the d i s e a s e p r o g r e s s e s . He o r she i s
unable to r e c a l l the most o r d i n a r y d e t a i l s , they may f o r g e t
t h e i r own name, the names o f t h e i r n e a r e s t and dearest;
they
may walk out o f the door, o n l y to f o r g e t immediately where
they intended to go, o r what they intended to do; they go to
the shops o n l y to f o r g e t what they came f o r , and i n most
cases they can o n l y f u n c t i o n by means o f c o n t i n u a l w r i t t e n
reminders.
But e l d e r l y people i n g e n e r a l s u f f e r v a r y i n g and s m a l l e r
memory l o s s , and as s t a t e d , i n most cases, g i v e n time, can
r e c a l l the necessary m a t e r i a l . A t t e n t i o n i s b e i n g p a i d
these days by r e s e a r c h e r s to methods by which one's a b i l i t y
to remember can be extended and improved.
From such g e n e r a l
advice as keeping f i t , the methods range down to recommending
t h a t e l d e r l y people r e g u l a r l y take chicken soup, which i s
c h e m i c a l l y r e i n f o r c e d with l e c i t h i n , a chemical t h a t i s
supposed to a f f e c t the chemistry o f the b r a i n .
The p u r i f i e d
l e c i t h i n , i t i s s a i d , r a i s e s the blood l e v e l s o f c h o l i n e ,
a chemical found i n the b r a i n , and thus i t may a i d memory.
Doses o f the substance physostigmine have been used s u c c e s s f u l l y
i n experiments to improve long-term memory.

In c o n c l u s i o n , however, we would remind the readers o f

two b a s i c f a c t s ;
f i r s t l y t h a t the a b i l i t y to record memories
v a r i e s with the i n d i v i d u a l from b i r t h , and l i t t l e i s r e a l l y
known about how to improve t h i s a b i l i t y , any more than one
can r e a l l y change the b a s i c a b i l i t y o f the b r a i n .
There
are methods to a i d r e c a l l , but i f the m a t e r i a l has not been
r e g i s t e r e d then memory a i d s are u s e l e s s .
Secondly, and
most importantly, memory i s p a r t o f one's whole experience,
i t i s not a separate f u n c t i o n , so what i s recorded i n one's
memory p a t t e r n s i s the summation o f a t o t a l experience,
a l l i e d to emotion, i n d i v i d u a l experience, expectation,
and b e l i e f systems.
One's memory i s p a r t o f the vast network
that comprises a person's whole p e r s o n a l i t y .

FRONTAL
"ASSOCIATION"
CORTEX

L O C A L I Z A T I O N S O F F U N C T I O N i n the cerebral cortex of m o n k e y s have lieen k n o w n

in general for m a n y years. T h e evidence ha;, been s u p p l i e d in part by anatomical tracing of
nerve pathway*, and m o r e recently by electrical r e c o r d i n g of wave f o r m s , both t h r o u g h the
intact s k u l l and by use of i m p l a n t e d electrodes. SonieMhes-is refers to the set^e of t o u c h .

Some a t t e n t i o n has "been g i v e n to a presumed chemical b a s i s

f o r memory.
The m o t i v a t i o n i s two f o l d .
I t i s true t h a t the
conduction o f s i g n a l s i n nerve c e l l s , i n c l u d i n g those of the
b r a i n , a l l 100 b i l l i o n o f them, i s i n a sense e l e c t r i c a l , but
the p r o c e s s should be more t r u l y d e s c r i b e d as e l e c t r o c h e m i c a l
dependent on the i o n i z a t i o n o f atoms, p a r t i c u l a r l y calcium
and sodium, and the flow o f such i o n s .
The nerve c e l l s or
neurons (neurones) i n t e r a c t with and energize one another v i a
j u n c t i o n s or p o i n t s of contact c a l l e d synapses which are even
more numerous than the neurons, there being some 10 t r i l l i o n
of them, because there are some thousand synapses to each neuron
on account o f the m u l t i p l e c o n n e c t i v i t y o f the neuronic
network.
I n the e n e r g i z i n g o f neurons by o t h e r neurons i n
s y n a p t i c t r a n s m i s s i o n v a r i o u s chemical substances p l a y an
important r o l e , e s p e c i a l l y c h o l i n e and a c e t y l c h o l i n e , which
i n p a r t i c u l a r i s why agents l i k e physostigmine and l e t h i c i n ,
t h a t modify the r e a c t i o n s of c h o l i n e or o f a c e t y l c h o l i n e can improve
memory.
The second reasoning f o r seeking a chemical b a s i s f o r memory
i s empirical.
E a r l y t h e o r i e s o f memory a s c r i b e d i t to the
s e t t i n g up o f continued e l e c t r i c a l a c t i v i t y o r c u r r e n t f l o w
i n n e u r a l c i r c u i t s i n the b r a i n .
But i f t h i s were so, i t
should be p o s s i b l e to d i s r u p t memory by e l e c t r i c a l i n t e r f e r e n c e
with the b r a i n , and a number o f experiments have been done
on the e f f e c t on memory i n animals o f e l e c t r o c o n v u l s i v e shock
and a l s o o f c o n v u l s i o n s induced by the drug M e t r a z o l , and
anethesia r e s u l t i n g from sodium p e n t a b a r b i t o l .
I t appears
t h a t long-term memory i s e f f e c t i v e l y unimpaired, although
short-term memory may f a i l .
T h i s suggests t h a t while short-term
memory may depend on s u s t a i n e d e l e c t r i c a l a c t i v i t y , long-term
memory i s otherwise based.
An obvious candidate f o r the r o l e o f "memory molecule" was
DNA (deoxyribose n u c l e i a c i d ) because as a major ( i f not the
major) v e h i c l e f o r i n h e r i t a n c e DNA i s s t r u c t u r a l l y adapted
to c a r r y i n g g e n e t i c " i n f o r m a t i o n " , as the c u r r e n t fa con de p a r l e r
p u t s i t . The " i n f o r m a t i o n " c o n s i s t s i n the sequences o f the
n u c l e o t i d e s A, G, C and T, i . e . adenine, guanine, ey to sine,
and thymine.
D i f f e r e n t orders y i e l d d i f f e r e n t "words", each
word being gene. The genes operate through the intermediacy
of the r e l a t e d substance, RNA ( i . e . r i b o s e n u c l e i a c i d ) ,
which has s m a l l e r and more mobile molecules than DNA and the
n u c l e o t i d e u r a c i l i n p l a c e o f thymine, and induce the f o r m a t i o n
of the enzymes which f a c i l i t a t e most o f the b i o l o g i c a l p r o c e s s e s
t h a t go on i n the l i v i n g organism.
I n t e r e s t i n g l y enough
organisms c o n t a i n l a r g e amounts o f c e l l u l a r DNA over and above
t h a t c o n s t i t u t i n g the genes. T h i s i s g i v e n the somewhat
approbrious t i t l e of " p a r a s i t i c DNA", based, we hasten to say,
on no r e a l knowledge o f i t s why o r wherefore.
I t has been the

o b j e c t o f s p e c u l a t i o n by e v o l u t i o n a r y b i o l o g i s t s without
any c o n c l u s i o n being a r r i v e d a t .
S i m i l a r l y , the h y p o t h e s i s
t h a t i t might be the v e h i c l e f o r the storage o f memories
has been a tempting one.
However attempts to a l t e r the DNA
content o f c e l l s or to induce chemical changes i n i t by
such methods as the a d m i n i s t r a t i o n of n a r c o t i c s or mechanical
i r r i t a t i o n o f nerve c e l l s , or i n d u c t i o n o f e l e c t r o c o n v u l s i v e
shock have a l l f a i l e d .
These r e u l t s as w e l l as comparable
surveys a c r o s s animal species, which emphasize the extreme
constancy o f DNA i n both amount and chemical composition suggest
s t r o n g l y t h a t i t i s f a r too s t a b l e a substance to be a v e h i c l e
f o r memory.
In a way t h i s i s obvious a_ p r i o r i because i t
has been w e l l known f o r f i f t y years or so t h a t the chromosal
DNA i s extremely s t a b l e and can only be c h e m i c a l l y m o d i f i e d
by mutagens, that i s to say v i o l e n t and d e s t r u c t i v e agents
such as mustard gas, r a d i o a c t i v e emanations, such as alphap a r t i c l e s , e l e c t r o n s or r a d i a t i o n such as X-rays or gamma r a y s .
Thus DNA i s f a r too r i g i d a substance to p l a y t h e r o l e r e q u i r e d
o f the "memory molecule".
However, a number o f t h e o r i e s which we need not go i n t o here,
a s c r i b e d a c e n t r a l r o l e i n memory to RNA as being l i k e DNA ,
s u b j e c t to encoding, but a l t o g e t h e r a more f l e x i b l e substance,
A c t u a l evidence on RNA comes from s e v e r a l l i n e s o f r e s e a r c h .
Thus the amount o f RNA i n neurons has been found to i n c r e a s e
a f t e r v a r i o u s kinds of s t i m u l a t i o n of r a t n e u r a l t i s s u e , e i t h e r
by sound or by v i b r a t i o n , or by a p p l i c a t i o n o f e l e c t r i c
v o l t a g e s , o r dosing with M e t r a z o l .
Correspondingly the RNA
content o f nerve c e l l s was i n s e v e r a l experiments found to
be diminished when the animals were exposed to v a r i o u s forms
o f shock treatment which may be expected to reduce t e m p o r a r i l y
the a b i l i t y to remember.
These treatments i n c l u d e d loud n o i s e s ,
n a r c o s i s induced by a l c o h o l or amobarbitol sodium, p o i s o n i n g
o f the h a i r c e l l s o f the i n n e r ear with a r s a c e t i n , and a l s o the
expedient o f exhausting the r a t s by overworking them.
However
a g a i n s t t h i s f i n d i n g i s the f a c t t h a t two other s t u d i e s i n
which n a r c o s i s was induced with b a r b i t u a t e s showed an i n c r e a s e
i n RNAJ
The reader may be excused f o r t h i n k i n g t h a t the work r e p o r t e d
above i s r a t h e r crude and bears o n l y remotely on the problems
o f memory.
An a l t e r n a t i v e approach attempts to answer the q u e s t i
whether drugs which enhance or i n h i b i t RNA
synthesis
r e s p e c t i v e l y f a c i l i t a t e or i n h i b i t memory. In one p i e c e o f
r e s e a r c h i t t r a n s p i r e d that the drug 8-azaguanine (a d e r i v a t i v e
o f the n u c l e o t i d e guanine) which d i s r u p t s RNA metabolism
impaired the a b i l i t y o f r a t s to l e s r n to navigate a water
maze but d i d not a f f e c t p r e v i o u s l y learned a b i l i t i e s o f t h a t
kind.
T h i s r e s u l t could be i n t e r p r e t e d to mean that
RNA h e l p s to encode memory but some other substance s t o r e s i t .

Other work has i n v e s t i g a t e d the e f f e c t s on l e a r n i n g i n v a r i o u s

e x p e r i m e n t a l a n i m a l s such a s mice o r g o l d f i s h o f the
antibiotic actinomycin-D.
The i m p l i c a t i o n s a r e somewhat
c o n f u s i n g b u t suggest t h a t RNA s y n t h e s i s i s n o t much i n v o l v e d
i n l e a r n i n g . Work w i t h o t h e r drugs such a s pemoline, an
enhancer o f RNA s y n t h e s i s appears t o c a s t n o ~ l i g h t oh t h e
r o l e o f RNA i n memory (Edward M. G u r o w i t z , The m o l e c u l a r
b a s i s o f memory, P r e n t i c e - H a l l , N.J. I969).
Experimental
i n t r a v e n o u s i n j e c t i o n s o f yeast-RNA i n t o b o t h humans and
r a t s l e d to e s s e n t i a l l y negative r e s u l t s .
As e a r l y a s 1950 J . J . K a t z and W.C. H a l s t e a d i n t h e i r paper
" P r o t e i n o r g a n i z a t i o n and mental f u n c t i o n " (Comparative
P s y c h o l o g y Monograph ?0> 1-38) proposed a t h e o r y o f memory
a s s i g n i n g a c e n t r a l r o l e t o p r o t e i n s . I t was n o t t a k e n up
u n t i l considerably later.
Some s u p p o r t f o r the r o l e o f
p r o t e i n i n memory was g o t i n the 1960's from e x p e r i m e n t s
on the e f f e c t o f TCAP (a v a r i e t y o f t r i c y d n o - a m i n o - p r o p e n e )
on maze-running by r a t s whose performance i t d i d n o t improve.
However t h e i r "avoidance c o n d i t i o n i n g " was q u i c k e r ;
ability
to l e a r n t o a v o i d something n a s t y l i k e an e l e c t r i c shock.
I n consequence o f t h i s and s e v e r a l o t h e r e x p e r i m e n t s i t
seems t h a t TCAP does have somewhat o f a f a v o u r a b l e e f f e c t
on l e a r n i n g . Because TCAP enhances b o t h RNA and p r o t e i n
metabolism the i m p l i c a t i o n i s u n c e r t a i n . V a r i o u s i n h i b i t o r s
o f p r o t e i n s y n t h e s i s have been s t u d i e d f o r t h e i r e f f e c t s
on memory i n mice. Thus i n j e c t i o n s o f t h e a n t i b i o t i c
puromycin i n t o the t e m p o r a l r e g i o n s t o t a l l y a n n i h i l i a t e d
s h o r t - t e r m memories o f recen,t maze-running t r a i n i n g .
Long
term memories c o u l d a l s o be a n n u l l e d b u t t h i s r e q u i r e d t h e
puromycin t o be i n j e c t e d i n t o much more e x t e n s i v e r e g i o n s
o f the b r a i n (temporal + f r o n t a l + v e n t r i c u l a r ) .
T h i s work
i s t h e r e f o r e ( a l t h o u g h i n an i n c i d e n t a l f a s h i o n ) i n f o r m a t i v e
i n a s l i g h t degree a s t o t h e l o c a l i z a t i o n o f s h o r t and l o n g
term memory s t o r e s .
I n t h e 1960's enormous i n t e r e s t and p o p u l a r j o u r n a l i s m
were engendered by e x p e r i m e n t s r e l a t i n g t o t h e b i o c h e m i c a l
t r a n s f e r o f l e a r n i n g a r t i f i c i a l l y from one a n i m a l t o a n o t h e r .
A g r e a t d e a l o f t h i s work was done w i t h p l a n a r i a n s , i . e .
f l a t w o r m s . A p l a n a r i f t n i s a f l a t arrow-shaped worm about an
i n c h l o n g t h a t l i v e s i n f r e s h water. Dr. James V. M c C o n n e l l
and h i s group a t the U n i v e r s i t y o f M i c h i g a n t r a i n e d f l a t w o r m s
t o f i e e from a l i g h t i n t h e i r tank i n o r d e r t o a v o i d
r e c e i v i n g an e l e c t r i c shock.
The b o d i e s o f these t r a i n e d
f l a t w o r m s were then g r o u m u p and f e d t o n a i v e ( i . e . u n t r a i n e d )
ones. I t was c l a i m e d t h a t t h e l a t t e r l e a r n e d the a v o i d a n c e
response f a s t e r than those which had been f e d on the f l e s h o f
o t h e r n a i v e a n i m a l s . R e p o r t s o f t h i s work c r e a t e d a g r e a t
impression.
However a f t e r f u r t h e r y e a r s o f study and
a t t e m p t s t o r e p l i c a t e the work by o t h e r r e s e a r c h e r s , i t

became e v i d e n t t h a t there may have been s e r i o u s methodological

flaws i n the i n v e s t i g a t i o n e r r o r s o f s e v e r a l k i n d s ,
s t a t i s t i c a l a n a l y s i s , experimenter b i a s , and "confounding"
of various factors.
The r e s u l t s t h e r e f o r e have tended
to f a l l i n t o d i s r e p u t e .
However the work with flatworms s t i m u l a t e d r e s e a r c h on
memory t r a n s f e r i n r a t s o r mice.
Thus i n one study, donor
r a t s were t r a i n e d to approach a food cup when a c l i c k i n g
n o i s e was sounded.
RNA e x t r a c t e d from the donors' b r a i n s
was i n j e c t e d i n t o u n t r a i n e d r e c i p i e n t s and a s i m i l a r e x t r a c t
from n a i v e donors was i n j e c t e d i n t o r a t s o f a c o n t r o l group.
The f i r s t group wei?e found to l e a r n to r e a c t to the c l i c k
more q u i c k l y than the c o n t r o l group.
A s i m i l a r r e s u l t was
got u s i n g t r a i n e d hamsters as donors and r a t s as r e c i p i e n t s .
S i m i l a r experiments have not however been u n e q u i v o c a l l y
successful.
Even i f the e f f e c t t r u l y occurs i t i s not
y e t c l e a r t h a t the v e h i c l e o f memory t r a n s f e r i s RNA and not
a s s o c i a t e d t r a c e s o f p r o t e i n o r peptide i n the b r a i n e x t r a c t s .
Many v a r i a t i o n s on t h i s experiment have been done and by
q u i t e d i f f e r e n t r e s e a r c h teams.
Different kinds of b r a i n
e x t r a c t s have been used f o r t r a n s f e r .
Some e x t r a c t s have
been intended to c o n s i s t mainly o f RNA. Other workers have
used e x t r a c t s t r e a t e d with the enzyme RNAse i n o r d e r to
remove the RNA before i n j e c t i o n .
I n consequence o f p o s i t i v e
r e s u l t s obtained i n experiments o f t h i s l a t t e r type some
r e s e a r c h e r s , such as D r . Georges Ungar o f B a y l o r C o l l e g e
o f M e d i c i n e , Texas, b e l i e v e that the memory molecules are
peptides.
We do not know the p r e s e n t status o f o p i n i o n i n r e s p e c t
o f one o f the most p u b l i c i s e d c l a i m s f o r t r a n s f e r , t h a t made
by Ungar and Burzynsky concerning the p e p t i d e scotophobin
(a name coined from the Greek meaning "fear o f the d a r k " ) .
T h i s compound was s y n t h e s i z e d by them i n the l a b o r a t o r y
having p r e v i o u s l y been i s o l a t e d from the b r a i n s o f r a t s
t r a i n e d to a v o i d darkness.
I n the t r a i n i n g programme each
r a t was o f f e r e d a choice between a w e l l l i g h t e d box and a
dark one.
I f i t s p r e f e r e n c e was f o r darkness i t got
an e l e c t r i c shock,
Such r a t s c o n d i t i o n e d to f e a r the
dark were used as donors.
I t i s claimed t h a t t h e i r b r a i n
e x t r a c t s when i n j e c t e d i n t o u n t r a i n e d r a t s , caused the
l a t t e r to spontaneously a v o i d the dark.
Ungar and
Burzynsky claimed a l s o t h a t the synthesized peptide
scotophobin causes not o n l y r a t s but a l s o mice and even
g o l d f i s h to show an u n n a t u r a l a v e r s i o n to the dark when
i n j e c t e d with i t i
Despite these s t r i k i n g c l a i m s however>
l o o k i n g over the whole f i e l d o f b r a i n e x t r a c t experiments one
has to say t h a t on account o f i n c o n s i s t e n t f i n d i n g s by
d i f f e r e n t teams as w e l l as methodological problems, the q u e s t i o n
o f i n t e r - a n i m a l memory t r a n s f e r s t i l l appears to be i n
c o n s i d e r a b l e doubt, thus d e f e r r i n g the hope expressed by
J o u r n a l i s t s some years ago that i n times ahead one might be
a b l e to l e a r n a d i s c i p l i n e such as music o r mathematics by
taking a p i l l . '

The s u b j e c t o f l o c a l i z a t i o n o f f u n c t i o n i n the b r a i n i s
a complex one, as the r e a d e r can a s c e r t a i n f o r example from
R i c h a r d F . Thompson's v e r y u p - t o - d a t e t r e a t i s e The B r a i n
( i t f . H . Freeman, New York, 1985).
Researchers i n the 19^0 s
and 1950's such as L a s h l e y and Sperry were impressed by the
f a c t that q u i t e extensive l e s i o n s o f the c e r e b r a l c o r t e x
(the t h i n l a y e r o f grey matter to which the h i g h e r b r a i n
f u n c t i o n s are a s c r i b e d ) permanently i m p a i r the f u n c t i o n s
o f s e e i n g , h e a r i n g r e c o g n i t i o n s and memory to a l e s s e r
degree than would be expected.
A permently damaged b r a i n
shows more e v e n t u a l r e s t o r a t i o n o f f u n c t i o n than c o u l d
be p r e d i c t e d from a knowledge o f the extent o f the damage.
T h i s c e r t a i n l y shows t h a t b r a i n f u n c t i o n s i n c l u d i n g memory
are not l o c a l i z e d with t o t a l p r e c i s i o n .
The f a c t , although
t r u e , has i n our o p i n i o n been g r o s s l y exaggerated even by
people who should know b e t t e r .
Quite w i l d a s s e r t i o n s are
made,without i n our view any adequate j u s t i f i c a t i o n , such
as the c l a i m t h a t f u l l b r a i n f u n c t i o n can e x i s t i n
d e c o r t i c a t e humans! Indeed the most recent work seems
to show how, f o r example, f e a t u r e s o f v i s u a l experience
are "mapped" i n the c o r t e x .
I t would appear t h e r e f o r e
t h a t the p r e c i s e meaning to be a s c r i b e d to the term
n o n - l o c a l i z a t i o n needs a new and more c a r e f u l a n a l y s i s .
However i t i s l e g i t i m a t e to argue t h a t l o c a l i z a t i o n o f o t h e r
f u n c t i o n s dpes not n e c e s s a r i l y imply the l o c a l i z a t i o n o f
memory.
1

I n t h i s connection recent words o f D r . Rupert Sheldrake

i n h i s new, r e v i z e d and augmented e d i t i o n o f h i s book on
"Formative C a u s a t i o n , A New Science o f L i f e , Anthony
B l o n d , London, U . K . 19$5) ought to be c o n s i d e r e d .
I f we
should be f o r c e d to "the seemingly p a r a d o x i c a l c o n c l u s i o n
t h a t memory i s both everywhere and nowhere" then we might
l o o k to the phenomenon o f "morphic resonance" as the
e s s e n t i a l memory mechanism.
Memory i n t h i s view i s the
working o f the morphogenetic f i e l d set up by our own p a s t
thoughts and s e n s a t i o n s .
Thus "the hypothesis o f formative
c a u s a t i o n p r o v i d e s an a l t e r n a t i v e i n t e r p r e t a t i o n , i n the
l i g h t o f which the p e r s i s t e n c e o f l e a r n e d h a b i t s i n s p i t e
o f damage to the b r a i n i s f a r l e s s p u z z l i n g i
the h a b i t s
depend on motor f i e l d s which are not stored w i t h i n the
b r a i n a t a l l but are g i v e n d i r e c t l y from i t s p a s t
s t a t e s by morphic resonance".

FRONT

V3 V4 V 5 V 6

VTE

Surface of cerebrum covered

with cerebral cortex

Highly schematic representation of some of the

visual areas in the cerebral
cortex of the monkey.
Each visual area has a retinal projection: a map or
layout of the visual field
(actually of the left half
of the visual field since
the right hemisphere is
shown).

m
Complex cell
(binocular

| Contralateral eye

| lpsilateral eyt

Lateral geniculate nucleus

The projections from the eyes to the lateral geniculate body

to layer IV of the visual cortex. The top layer and fourth layer of the
lateral geniculate (6c and Ac) receive input from the opposite side (contralateral) eye and project to one column of cells in layer IV of the visual
cortex (IVrj, whereas the same side eye (ipsilateral) projects to layers 5;'
and 3/, which in turn project to the next column of cells in layer IV of
the cortex (IVi).
mt

mi

mi

(After S. W. Kufifler and J. G. Nicholls,

Sinauer Associates, 1977.)

From Neuron to Brain.

Sunderland, MA:

TUB PANTASYPRONR PERSONALITY:

IMPLICATIONS POR UHDKRSTANDINC IHACKRY,
HYPNOSIS, AND PARAPSYCHOLOGICAL PHENOMENA*
Shcryl C. Wilson and Theodore X* Barber
Cubbing H o s p i t a l , Framlngham, Massachusetts
Interviews In depth, focusing on childhood
and a d u l t memories, f a n t a s i e s , and p s y c h i c
experiences, were conducted with 27 women who had
been c o n s i s t e n t l y r a t e d as e x c e l l e n t h y p n o t i c
subjects and a comparison group of 25 women who
had been rated as non-excellent (poor, medium, and
medium good) h y p n o t i c s u b j e c t s . W i t h one
exception, the e x c e l l e n t hypnotic subjects, but
not t h e comparison s u b j e c t s , had a profound
fantasy l i f e ; t h e i r fantasies were often "as r e a l
as l i f e " (hallucinatory), and t h e i r deep i n v o l v e ment i n f a n t a s y played an i m p o r t a n t r o l e i n
pvoductlng t h e i r superb hypnotic performance. The
data i n d i c a t e t h a t e x c e l l e n t h y p n o t i c s u b j e c t s
derive l a r g e l y from a s m a l l percentage (possibly
4%) of the normal population who can be labeled as
f a n t a s y - p r o n e p e r s o n a l i t i e s (fantaslrers) since
t h i s seems t o be t h e i r m o s t f u n d a m e n t a l
c h a r a c t e r i s t i c which serves as the matrix from
which t h e i r other talents a r i s e . I n addition t o
becoming involved I n fantasy very deeply and very
often, e x c e l l e n t hypnotic subjects a l s o report
v i v i d sensory experiences, v i v i d memories o f t h e i r
very e a r l y and more r e c e n t l i f e e x p e r i e n c e s ,
a b i l i t i e s as "healers," and numerous telepathic,
p r c c o g n l t l v e , and o t h e r p s y c h i c e x p e r i e n c e s . Author's abstract.
* An abridged version of the a r t i c l e to be published i n i t s
e n t i r e t y I n : A.A. S h e l k l n , ed., Imagery: Current Theory,
Research, and A p p l i c a t i o n (New York: Jolw Wiley) In 19B2.
The a u t h o r s a r e Indebted t o Susan Myers, Susan K i n g
Ctmbrelo, Dr. Steven Jay Lynn, and Michael R. Ncish for t h e i r
assistance.

. i . I ' t

Subjects
To date we hove administered our hnttery of tents mid
Interviews to 52 women subjects, of whom 27 were excellent
h y p n o t i c s u b j e c t s and t h e r e m a i n i n g 25 were spread
throughout t h e low, medium, and medium-high range o f
hypnotic responsiveness. With two exceptions, these women
have attended college o r nre college graduates. One Is nn
MD ( p s y c h i a t r i s t ) , one n PhD ( p s y c h o l o g i s t ) , 4 n r e PhD
candidates I n psychology, 10 have BA's o r MA's In psychology
or counseling, 9 have a bachelor or master's degree In other
areas, and 25 are c o l l e g e students. Their age I s from 19 to
63 w i t h a mean of 28.
Procedure
Although there were some v a r i a t i o n s i n the order of
t e s t a d m i n i s t r a t i o n , t y p i c a l l y , we f i r s t e v a l u a t e d t h e
subjects f o r Imaginative a b i l i t y and hypnotic responsiveness
by administering the Creative Imagination Scale (1-3J. This
Scale i s a standardized Instrument which measures equally
w e l l (a) responsiveness t o guided Imaging and (b) respons i v e n e s s t o h y p n o t i c s u g g e s t i o n s which emphasize t h e
l t n a g l n l n g - h a l l u c l n a t o r y a s p e c t s o f hypnosis. The s c a l e
Includes ten items which ask the subjects t o i m a g i n e , f o r
example, that: a Btroop stream o f water from a garden hose
Is pushing a g a i n s t t h e palm o f t h e i r o u t s t r e t c h e d hand
(pushing the hand up); novocains has been injected Into the
s i d e o f t h e i r hand (making two f i n g e r s numb); they a r e
"liearing" music; f e e l i n g the sun slilnlng on the r i g h t hand
(creating heat); o r re-experlenclng themselves as c h i l d r e n
In elementary school.
A f t e r the subjects had been evaluated on the Creative
I m a g i n a t i o n S c a l e , . they were t e s t e d on t h e Barber
S u g g e s t i b i l i t y Scale U,4j, which essences responsiveness to
e i g h t s u g g e s t i o n s o f the type commonly used I n h y p n o t i c
experiments (hand lock, verbal I n h i b i t i o n , body i m m o b i l i t y ,
posthypnotic response, s e l e c t i v e amnesia, etc.).
T y p i c a l l y , subjects who responded In a profound way and
passed a l l o r v i r t u a l l y a l l of the items on the Creative
Imagination Scale and the Barber S u g g e s t i b i l i t y Scale were

0J
Ii

further tested by administering one o r more t r a d i t i o n a l o r

n o n - l r a d l t l o n n i h y p n o t i c i n d u c t i o n procedures 15-8], a
s e r i e s of suggestions such as those included i n the Stanford
H y p n o t i c S u s c e p t i b i l i t y S c a l e s (9,10], and s e v e r a l
a d d i t i o n a l suggestions, f o r example, t o experience extreme
happiness, a superconsclous s t a t e , a m y s t i c a l s t a t e , o r a
past l i f e .
Thus, a c c o r d i n g t o o u r c r i t e r i a , e x c e l l e n t
hypnotic subje^s.responded e a s i l y , quickly, and f u l l y to a
l a r g e v a r i e t y of s u g g e s t i o n s i n c l u d i n g the c l a s s i c a l
hypnotic suggestions f o r anesthesia, r i g i d i t y , p o s i t i v e and
n e g a t i v e h a l l u c i n a t i o n s , age r e g r e s s i o n , p o s t - h y p n o t i c
behavior, amnesia, etc.
Subjects who did not respond profoundly and pass most.
of the items on tlte Creative Imagination Test and the Barber
S u g g e s t i b i l i t y Scale were considered non-excellent hypnotic
B i i b j e c t s and were not t e s t e d f u r t h e r f o r h y p n o t i c
responsiveness, but were Interviewed as described below.
Interviews
A f t e r being evaluated on the Creative Imagination Scale
and t h e o t h e r t e s t s i n the manner d e s c r i b e d above, each
s u b j e c t was i n t e r v i e w e d i n d i v i d u a l l y on the Memory,
I m a g i n i n g , and C r e a t i v i t y I n t e r v i e w Schedule. We f i r s t
c o n s t r u c t e d an I n t e r v i e w schedule w i t h 88 q u e s t i o n s , o f
which 73 covered areas such as: e a r l y childhood memories,
childhood and adult fantasies, empathy and r o l e playing as a
c h i l d and as an adult, feelings about s e l f , sleep behaviors,
hypnagogic Imagery, h a l l u c i n a t o r y imagery, psychosomatic
l l n e s s e a , p s y c h i c e x p e r i e n c e s , and
out-of-the-body
experiences. We a l s o included 15 a d d i t i o n a l questions t h a t
Josephine R. Illlgard 111] had found to be c o r r e l a t e d w i t h
hypnotic s u s c e p t i b i l i t y . These questions pertained t o the
subject's degree of involvement In such areas as reading,
d r a m a t i c a r t B , r e l i g i o n , sensory e x p e r i e n c e s , and t o
I d e n t i f i c a t i o n with parents, s e v e r i t y o f c h i l d h o o d
punishment, and motivation t o experience hypnosis. As we
continued interviewing a d d i t i o n a l subjects, we o c c a s i o n a l l y
added new questions t o amplify the o r i g i n a l questions and,
as a r e s u l t , the Mempryi Imaging, and C r e a t i v i t y Interview
Schedule now contains 100 items.

The length of time required to interview each subject

v a r i e d d r a s t i c a l l y , d e p e n d i n g p r i m a r i l y upon t h e
extenslvene8s of her memories and fantasy l i f e . Interviews
of subjects who were deeply involved In fantasy required a
minimum of four hours and, with the two most verbal, as much
as 32 hours. The subjects who were low on fantasy could be
interviewed i n much l e s s time, often i n about two hours,
since they simply answered "no" t o many of the questions
thus t h e i r responses could not be probed f o r d e t a i l s .
Summary o f Results
Hie findings supported our conjecture that women who
score extremely high on the Creative Imagination Scale and
who, i n a d d i t i o n , are excellent hypnotic subjects a l s o share
unusual c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s which enable us t o consider them an
fantasy-prone i n d i v i d u a l s .
Although our 27 e x c e l l e n t
h y p n o t i c s u b j e c t s d i f f e r e d markedly In personality (e.g.,
some were extravcrted and others Introverted, some were high
and otbera low on self-esteem), 26 of the 27 shared a s e r i e s
of i n t e r r e l a t e d c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s , a syndrome o r personality
type that we are l a b e l i n g as the fantasy-prone personality
or f a n t n s l z e r . One of the excellent hypnotic subjects and
a l l 25 of the non-excellent hypnotic subjects d i f f e r e d from
the f a n t a s i z e r s i n t h e i r answers t o the interview questions
on fantasy (and a l s o t o questions about memories, psychic
experiences, etc.) and thus could not be labeled as fantasyprone p e r s o n a l i t i e s . I n t h i s l i m i t e d space we w i l l not
attempt t o analyze
why one o f the e x c e l l e n t h y p n o t i c
s u b j e c t s d i f f e r e d from the o t h e r s I n t h a t she was not
e s p e c i a l l y Involved In fantasy. This anomalous subject i s
Important, however, In leading to a q u a l i f i e d conclusion;
namely, that a very large percentage, but n o t a l l , excellent
female h y p n o t i c s u b j e c t s appear t o be fantasy-prone
personalities.
Some C h a r a c t e r i s t i c s Shared by Fantasy-prone Individuals
During Childhood and Adulthood
As c h i l d r e n , the 26 fantasy-prone subjects l i v e d In n
make-believe world much of ths time. A l l Who played w i t h

IL

ft

t *

d o l l s and toy animals (80X) believed the toys were a l i v e ,

had feelings, and had a unique personality. More than h a l f
of the f a n t a s I t e r s (58%), as compared t o 81 I n t h e
comparison group, spent a large part of t h e i r time during
childhood ploying and Interacting w i t h imaginary companions
(fantasized people or animals), reporting that they c l e a r l y
saw, heard, and f e l t them I n the same way they perceived
l i v i n g people and animals.
The fantasizers t y p i c a l l y reported that when they were
children they would become one of the cliaracters i n a book
they were r e a d i n g ; they would see, hear, f e e l , and
experience the character's l i f e (Bee also (11]). Sometimes
characters from these books became Imaginary companions.
When fantasizers become adults, the extenslveness and
vividness of t h e i r fantasies do not s i g n i f i c a n t l y decrease.
From a very young age and continuing i n t o the present, they
t y p i c a l l y spend a l a r g e p a r t o f t h e i r time f a n t a s i z i n g .
They view i m a g i n i n g o r f a n t a s i z i n g as c e n t r a l t o t h e i r
l i v e s , f e e l i n g they p r a c t i c a l l y l i v e t h e i r l i v e s i n fantasy.
T y p i c a l l y each subject has a secret fantasy l i f e which
site has revealed to no one. I t can be said that somewhere
in the t r a n s i t i o n from childhood t o adulthood they became
" c l o s e t f a n t a s i z e r s . " T h e i r extensive, v i v i d f a n t a s i z i n g
has become t h e i r c a r e f u l l y guarded secret - often even t h e i r
husbands, c h i l d r e n , and closest friends are unaware of l t l
When asked to estimate what percent of t h e i r waking day they
spend fantasizing, 92Z of the fantasy-prone subjects (and
none of the subjects In the comparison group) estimated more
than 50% o f the time. I m a g i n i n g o r f a n t a s i z i n g i s as
necessary utid i n t e g r a l t o t h e i r l i v e s as s l e e p i n g and
eating. Many compared the loss of fantasy to the loss of
one or more of the senses, e s p e c i a l l y v i s i o n - It would be
l i k e going b l i n d .
T i l l s u s u a l l y was f o l l o w e d by an
expression of doubt as t o whether they could continue l i v i n g
more than a few hours without fantasizing.
S i x t y - f i v e percent of the f a n t a s i z e r s u s u a l l y
e x p e r i e n c e t h e i r f a n t a s i e s "as r e a l as r e a l " ( a s
hallucinatory) I n a l l sense m o d a l i t i e s . They see Imagined
sights equally w e l l with t h e i r eyes open or closed. A l s o ,
imagined aromas are sensed, sounds are heard, and t a c t i l e
sensations are f e l t as convincingly nu those produced by

t I

actual s t i m u l i . Their memories, which we w i l t describe l a t e r

In t h i s paper, are also hallucinatory. When they r e c a l l an
event, they a r e a b l e t o r e - \,.erlence I t and r e l i v e i t
again, seeing, hearing, and f e e l i n g I t i n much the same way
they d i d o r i g i n a l l y . In a d d i t i o n , t h e i r f a n t a s i e s and
memories t y p i c a l l y seem t o be l o c a t e d i n the o u t s i d e
environment; f o r example, when we ask them e i t h e r t o
remember or Imagine n dog, they see i t run Into the room,
f e e l i t l i c k t h e i r face, etc. Furthermore, they react to
t h e i r memories and fantnsles w i t h feelings nnd emotions that
would be opproprlate i f what they were h a l l u c i n a t i n g was
a c t u a l l y occurring In the present space nnd time. Some of
these subjects describe t h e i r fantasies as being l i k e a good
movie, except better because they are I n the movie. Tlicy
can experience anything In fantasy - people can be seen nnd
heard t o speak, food can be smelled nnd tnntcd, sensations
such as touch, heat, and cold can be f e l t , and emotions such
as f r i g h t and joy can be experienced. And, when immersed In
f a n t a s y , they do not ask wlwther t h e i r experiences nre r e a l .
When t h e i r eyes are open, the other 35% of the fantasyprone s u b j e c t s a l s o commonly e x p e r i e n c e f a n t a s i e s o f
h a l l u c i n a t o r y i n t e n s i t y In a l l senses except v i s i o n - t l c y
hear imagined sounds, s m e l l Imagined aromas, taste Imagined
f o o d , e t c . - but the v i s u a l component o f the f a n t a s y I s
located e i t h e r In the "mind's eye" (where i t can be "vivid")
or i n the external environment where I t Is more vague and
" g h o s t - l i k e " and n o t "ns r e a l as r e a l . "
In order t o
experience t h e i r fantnsles at hallucinatory I n t e n s i t i e s In
a l l sense modalities, i n c l u d i n g v i s u a l l y , these s u b j e c t s
must fantasize w i t h t h e i r eyes closed. The fantasies of
these subjects can perhaps best be understood by comparing
them to other people's most v i v i d dreams, In which they are
t o t a l l y involved and p a r t i c i p a t i n g . During the time they
are f a n t a s i z i n g , they experience imagined people and events
as " r e a l " i n somewhat the same way ns sleeping i n d i v i d u a l s
accept the events In t h e i r v i v i d dreams as "real."
Our data show that there I s a very close r e l a t i o n s h i p
(and possibly an i d e n t i t y when the "noise" i n the data Is
removed) between the a b i l i t y t o fantasize a t hallucinatory
i n t e n s i t i e s and t h e a b i l i t y t o r e l i v e v i v i d l y p e r s o n a l
experiences while r e c a l l i n g them, that i s , t o r e c a l l In a

ft

hallucinatory way. A s t r i k i n g c h a r a c t e r i s t i c stared by 96%

of the fantasy-prone s u b j e c t s ( i n c o n t r a s t t o 4% i n the
comparison group) i s t h e i r unusually vivid p e r s o n a l
memories. When they are r e c a l l i n g a past experience, they
bring i t into the present space and time, r e c a l l i n g and r e experiencing the sensations that they f e l t i n the o r i g i n a l
situation.
In contrast, when subjects i n the comparison
group are r e c a l l i n g a p r e v i o u s e x p e r i e n c e , they are
remembering bajck and the experience i s In the past, not In
the present.
A surprising aspect of t h e i r v i v i d personal memories i s
that they seem to have l i t t l e childhood amnesia. Twentyf o u r of the 26 f a n t a s i z e r s (and only 3 s u b j e c t s i n the
comparison group) report many v i v i d memories of events tliat
occurred p r i o r to t h e i r t h i r d birthday. Of these, 8 a l s o
report c l e a r memories from age 1 and 2, and an a d d i t i o n a l 8
report l u c i d memories of events which occurred on or before
t h e i r f i r s t birthday. (We are aware of the p o s s i b i l i t y that
these v e r y e a r l y memories may be f a n t a s i e s I n s t e a d of
r e a l i t i e s . We w i l l keep t h i s question open as we continue
the research.)
In a d d i t i o n to developing v i v i d memories f o r personal
e x p e r i e n c e s , two of the f a n t a s i z e r s a l s o developed v e r y
superior auditory memories f o r spoken m a t e r i a l . By age 4
one of the fantasy-prone subjects appeared t o p e r f e c t l y read
out loud a l l of her children's books from cover to cover.
However, she could not read at a l l . She would look at each
page of the book and re-hear word-for-word the voice of the
a d u l t who o r i g i n a l l y read i t t o her. She r e t a i n e d t h i s
exceptional auditory e l d e t l c imagery throught her l i f e and
found i t very useful.
In apparent c o n t r a d i c t i o n t o t h e i r o t h e r w i s e v i v i d ,
personal memories, a s m a l l number of the fantasizers have
amnesia f o r c e r t a i n t i m e s and events i n t h e i r l i v e s ,
p a r t i c u l a r l y in regard to p a i n f u l , traumatic happenings. In
the same way as other i n d i v i d u a l s have pockets of amnesia in
t h e i r personal memories, there i s a conscious or unconscious
motivation not to remember the material; however, w i t h the
fantasy-prone s u b j e c t s the m o t i v a t i o n not to r e c a l l
unpleasant events can become e x c e p t i o n a l l y s t r o n g . Ae
stated above, whetV tHey r e c a l l a previous experience, they

tend to r e l i v e the experience and to f e e l the associated

emotions as I f they are o c c u r r i n g i n the present.
Consequently, when they begin t o r e c a l l a p a i n f u l o r
traumatic experience, they begin to reinstate the pain or
trauma a t i t s o r i g i n a l i n t e n s i t y and t h e r e Is thus an
e x c e e d i n g l y s t r o n g m o t i v a t i o n to a v o i d f u r t h e r p a i n o r
trauma by avoiding further r e c a l l .
A s t r i k i n g c h a r a c t e r i s t i c sliared by a l l , imt two of the
fantasy-prone subjects i s that t h e i r v i v i d f a n t a s i e s and
memories are a t times associated w i t h p h y s i c a l concomitance.
For i n s t a n c e , f i f t e e n spontaneously r e p o r t e d t h a t they
become 111 whenever they see violence on t e l e v i s i o n or i n
the movies. They cannot l e t themselves fantasize anything
w i t h violence because they are c e r t a i n that they w i l l become
sick.
Although we d i d not d i r e c t l y ask t h i s In the
Interview, seventeen told us that Imagined heat and cold
a f f e c t them In the same way as a c t u a l heat and cold.
Nineteen of the f a n t a s i z e r s , In sharp contrast to only
two s u b j e c t s from the comparison group, r e p o r t e d having
i l l n e s s o r p h y s i c a l symptoms t h a t seemed t o have been
d i r e c t l y related to t h e i r thoughts, fantasies, or memories.
For i n s t a n c e , most s o l d they had f r e q u e n t l y e x p e r i e n c e d
something such as becoming p h y s i c a l l y i l l wlien they thought
( i n c o r r e c t l y ) t h a t they had eaten s p o i l e d food, o r
developing an uncomfortable and continuous Itch when they
(Incorrectly) believed they had been contaminated w i t h l i c e .
An i l l u s t r a t i v e report was given by a subject who told us
about the time she recaptured a neighboring child's pet frog
which had escaped, remembered that she Iwd been told that
frogs cause warts, and then developed a wart on her hand
which was h i g h l y r e s i s t a n t to treatment.
Independently from our study, f i v e subjects from the
f a n t a s y - p r o n e group were i n v o l v e d In c l i n i c a l or
experimental biofeedback.
A l l f i v e stated that those who
a d m i n i s t e r e d the biofeedback t o them were c o n s i s t e n t l y
impressed by t h e i r t a l e n t , m a n i f e s t e d p r i o r t o the b i o feedback t r a i n i n g , f o r c o n t r o l l i n g p s y c h o p h y s i o l o g i c a l
'processes, e.g., speeding up and slowing down heart rate,
r a i s i n g and l o w e r i n g b l o o d p r e s s u r e , or i n c r e a s i n g and
decreasing s k i n temperature.

fc

it

1.

Fantasy-Prone Individuals and P o l Fltenomena

Ninety-two percent o f the fantasy-prone subjects see
themselves as p s y c h i c o r s e n s i t i v e and r e p o r t numerous
t e l e p a t h i c and precognitive experlencea.
(Sixteen percent
of the subjects i n the comparison group a l s o reported some
experiences of t h i s type.)
Hie fantasizers t y p i c a l l y state that (by some kind of
extrasensory perception) they often know what i s happening
a t a s p e c i f i c moment i n the l i f e o f a f r i e n d o r a p e r s o n
they are c l o s e to.
S i m i l a r l y , they c l a i m that they often
know what a f r i e n d Is thinking or f e e l i n g when he or she i s
many miles away. They a l s o c l a i m that they very often f e e l
( i n an extrasensory way) that a c e r t a i n person i s about to
c a l l them on the t e l e p h o n e and the f e e l i n g I s c o n f i r m e d
w i t h i n a minute o r two.
A l t h o u g h the c o n t e n t s o f t h e i r
premonitions vary widely, a l l but two of the f a n t a s i z e r s
claim precognitive experiences.
For example, s e v e r a l are
c e r t a i n that they c o r r e c t l y predicted serious llnessea and
ileatlis of f a m i l y members, c l o s e f r i e n d s , or r e l a t i v e s (often
l i v i n g a long distance away); two assert that they always
know beforehand exactly where they w i l l find a parking place
i n l a r g e , crowded parking l o t s ; and one s e r i o u s l y c l a i m s to
have c o n s i s t e n t l y predicted a l l the Kentucky Derby winners
f o r the p a s t 10 y e a r s (but has not made money on h e r
precognitions because that i s an Inappropriate way to use
her "gift").
The same fantasy-prone subjects a l s o report
precognitive dreams.
In a t y p i c a l report of t h i s type, a
subject s a i d 6he dreamt that a C h r i s t - l i k e person t o l d her
that she would soon be kidnapped and explained to her what
to do during the kidnapping so she would not be harmed. She
soon afterwards was kidnapped ( a c t u a l l y abducted f o r sexual
p u r p o s e s ) , l i t e r a l l y f o l l o w e d the i n s t r u c t i o n s from the
dream, and was released without molestation or harm.
A l m o s t a l l o f the f a n t a s i z e r s r e p o r t o t h e r k i n d s o f
psychic experiences or psychic talents which d i f f e r from
subject to subject.
For instance, each of the f o l l o w i n g i s
r e p o r t e d by one o r two s u b j e c t s : c o n d u c t i n g i m p r e s s i v e
p s y c h i c r e a d i n g s , p a s t l i f e r e a d i n g s or r e a d i n g s by
psychometry; entering a medlumlstlc trance; seeing auras
around people; "seeing" people's thoughts i n images above

their heads; believing they have a powerful Influence on

e l e c t r i c a l a p p l i a n c e s (fuses blow, t e l e v i s i o n s e t s "go
crazy," etc.); and feeling a dowsing rod being pulled down
strongly (whenever there Is hidden underground water beneath
them) regardless of how hard they t r y to hold i t up.
The overwhelming m a j o r i t y of s u b j e c t s (68%) In the
f a n t a s y - p r o n e group, an c o n t r a s t e d to few (8%) i n the
comparison group,
report r e a l i s t i c o u t - o f - t h e - b o d y
experiences while they are "meditating." One subject claims
she has had r e a l i s t i c out-of-the-body experiences almost
every day as f a r back as she can remember, usually during
the time she sets aside for fantasy. When we asked her to
t e l l us what these e x p e r i e n c e s are l i k e f o r h e r , she
unhesitatingly described such experiences as "a weightlens,
floating sensation.
But it's not exactly floating because
there's nothing holding me up. It's l i k e mixing with the
nir.
I have the f e e l i n g I c o u l d go any speed heennse
there's no holding back of matter. I'm part of space, not a
f o r e i g n o b j e c t i n space."
She r e p o r t s t h a t , at the
beginning of the out-of-tlw-body experience, she can look
back and see her body I f she wants to hut she u s u a l l y
doesn't pay attention to i t .
Slie knows that people study,
t r a i n , or practice to have out-of-the-body experiences, but
strongly believes such experiences must occur naturally.
Although a substantial proportion of o u t - o f - t h e - b o d y
experiences occur during periods of fantasy or "meditation,"
o t h e r s occur d u r i n g dreams o r d r e a m - l i k e s t a t e s .
For
instance, three of the fantasy-prone subjects ore convinced
they t r a v e l to o t h e r p l a c e s or o t h e r times w h i l e t h e i r
physical body l i e s sleeping. One says she sometimes awakens
and f i n d s h e r s e l f h a l f i n and h a l f out of her body. She
states that during her a s t r a l travels she t y p i c a l l y goes to
sick individuals and heals them. She feels she His received
external v a l i d a t i o n for this since people have told her tliat
they awake i n the m i d d l e of the n i g h t and f e e l a hand on
their shoulder on the very night that she believed she had
t r a v e l e d t o h e a l them.
A second s u b j e c t s t a t e s t h a t ,
beginning d u r i n g her c h i l d h o o d and c o n t i n u i n g i n t o the
present, she o s t r a l l y travels almost every night through
hospitals helping and healing s i c k children. A third claims

L.

Lli.it while a a t r a l l y traveling at night she goes to the dying

and h e l p s them through the t r a n s i t i o n to the next l i f e .
Rich of these three subjects told us they worried that If
people knew about them, they might think they were "crazy"
or "witches." T h i s f e a r seems j u s t i f i e d s i n c e C. W i l s o n
[121 and other writers have presented cases of women reputed
to a s t r a l l y travel at night who were d e f i n i t e l y viewed as
witches by their neighbors.
The 'fearicAsy-prone subjects also reported out-of-thebody experiences, under other s p e c i a l c i r c u m s t a n c e s .
One
subject liad one of her out-of-the-body experiences when she
took LSI) and andther while she was In a sensory Isolation
tank.
Another subject had her most memorable out-of-thebody experience during a severe Illness when she was four
years old. Two of the fantasizers have had out-of-the-body
experiences during "near death experiences."
For Instance,
one subject was thrown from the car during an automobile
accident in England and landed face down on the cobblestone
street.
She reports that she found herself standing on the
sidewalk, In the midst of a gathering crowd, looking at Iter
own body l y i n g face down on the s t r e e t .
An ambulance
a r r i v e d and she watched as they placed her body on a
6tretcher and carried It Into the ambulance. Then she heard
an attendant say she was dead and nothing more c o u l d be
done.
She r e c a l l s t h i n k i n g , "I'm not ready to d i e yet.'
She then got back i n t o her body and t r i e d to move to l e t
them know she was a l i v e . However, she was unable to move*
Then ehc thought I f she put a l l her e f f o r t Into I t , she
might be a b l e to move her e y e l i d s .
She r e p o r t s that the
attendant saw her move her eyelids, realized she was a l i v e ,
"worked on her," and saved h e r . (She a l s o s t a t e s t h a t a
f r i e n d who escaped s e r i o u s I n j u r y In the a c c i d e n t l a t e r
v e r i f i e d that the attendant had t r u l y pronounced her dead.)
1

More tlian two-thirds of the fantasy-prone subjects (and

none of the comparison controls) feel that they have the
a b i l i t y to h e a l ; that Is, they feel a natural tendency to
move toward injured or sick individuals while empathizing
with them and touching them. During this close interaction
they f e e l they transmit energy and health to the s i c k or
injured.
Most or these subjects have participated i n non-

dramatic "liealings;" for instance, they have f e l t healing

energy flowing from them to a c h i l d they were holding In
t h e i r arms. However, nine of the f a n t a s i z e r s are more
profoundly i n v o l v e d i n "healing," i.e., attending classes,
lectures, and workshops on healing or therapeutic touch,
p a r t i c i p a t i n g In h e a l i n g groups, o r performing o v e r t or
c o v e r t "healing" whenever they a r e w i t h s i c k o r i n j u r e d
individuals.
in general,
the f a n t a s y - p r o n e s u b j e c t s who saw
themselves as "healers" also stated they themselves Itad been
healed of an i l l n e s s or injury by a healer at least once in
their lives.
Although some of these "healings" were
undramatlc (e.g., the "healing" of a headache), others were
reported to us In a very d r a m a t i c way (e.g., sudden
"healing" of severe a r t h r i t i s ) .
In b r i e f , our data suggest
that fantasy-prone Individuals are heavily over-represented
among both "healers" and "henlees." Further studies in thin
area could prove very useful In explanlng the phenomenon of
"healing" [13J.
Discussion
This study has delineated a fact that Is very Important
f o r understanding the range of human psychology: a
r e l a t i v e l y s m a l l group of more or l e s s s a t i s f a c t o r i l y
adjusted individuals, who l i v e , work, and play l i k e the rest
of us, d i f f e r from the majority of their fellows in tliat
they l i v e much of the time i n a world of their own making i n a world of imagery, i m a g i n a t i o n , and fantasy.
They
fantasize much of the time when they are not busy; tley also
f a n t a s i z e much of the time when they a r e engaged In
r e l a t i v e l y non-demanding tasks; and their fantasies tend to
become hallucinatory - they are often "as real as real" and,
at times, "more real than real." It appears to us that both
the amount of time devoted to fantasy and the hallucinatory
intensity of the fantasies Is distributed on a normal curve
of d i s t r i b u t i o n , l i k e other human t r a i t s . Hie fantasy-prone
subjects simply f a l l at the extreme end of the curve.
Of c o u r s e , many o t h e r human a b i l i t i e s are a l s o
s t r i k i n g l y different and d i f f i c u l t * to believe when they l i e
at the extreme end of the normal curve. To take examples

from musical a b i l i t y , "Blind Tom," who was a poor, b l i n d ,

b l a c k s l a v e youngster i n the South, found h i s way to h i s
master's piano when 4 years of age, and was then and
thereafter able to play perfectly by ear each of the many
compositions he had previously heard [14, IS].
Likewise,
Mozart began to compose b e a u t i f u l v i o l i n sonatas and
symphonies when lie was about seven years of age [16].
In
the same way we find individuals on the extreme end of the
normal curve of c a l c u l a t i n g a b i l i t y , who can, for example,
In a few seconds m e n t a l l y d e r i v e the cube r o o t of
413,993,348,677 and other such numbers [17].
To the best of our knowledge, the syndrome that we have
uncovered, which i n c l u d e s I n v o l v e m e n t i n
fantasy,
hallucinatory a b i l i t y , v i v i d memories, hypnotizabllity, and
p s y c h i c a b i l i t i e s , has not been d e l i n e a t e d before as a
unitary entity.
However, each separate f a c e t of the
syndrome has been studied and, at times, two or more facets
have been interrelated.
The h a l l u c i n a t o r y a b i l i t y ( e s p e c i a l l y the v i s u a l
hallucinatory a b i l i t y ) shown by our subjects lias been noted
previously under a variety of names. One hundred years ago
Galton [18] found i n "sane and healthy" persons from a l l
walks of l i f e t h a t there l a " c o n t i n u i t y between a l l the
forms of v i s u a l i z a t i o n , beginning w i t h an a l m o s t t o t a l
absence o f i t , and ending w i t h complete h a l l u c i n a t i o n s "
P a r i s h [ 19] l a t e r r e p o r t e d s i m i l a r f i n d i n g s and
a p p r o p r i a t e l y l a b e l e d the phenomenon "the w a k i n g
hallucinations of healthy persons."
Let us look b r i e f l y at representative Journal a r t i c l e s
and books that have been written on individuals of the type
we have d e s c r i b e d i n t h i s paper. The w r i t e r s of theBe
a r t i c l e s and books were amazed that such an i n d i v i d u a l could
exist.
(Although we too were surprised when we began to
interview subjects, It soon became c l e a r that fantasy-prone
individuals who have developed the a b i l i t y to hallucinate
may comprise as much as 4Z of the population but arc w e l l
hidden because they are aware that i t i s s o c i a l l y taboo to
inform others of t h e i r extensive and v i v i d fantasy l i f e . )
Vogt & Sultan [20] discuss with astonishment the famous
inventor, Nikola T e s l a , who was able to hallucinate whatever

he was thinking or imaging. Tills a b i l i t y caused him much

"mental anguish" during his childhood; he had d i f f i c u l t y ,
for example, d i f f e r e n t i a t i n g between a visualized apple and
a r e a l apple.
As he got o l d e r , however, he learned to
discriminate more c l e a r l y between v i s u a l i z a t i o n nnd r e a l i t y
and he used h i s a b i l i t y to g r e a t advantage i n v i s u a l l y
constructing his inventions such as the alternating current
generator, the induction c o l l , fluorescent l i g h t i n g , neon
bulbs, etc.
One of the world's foremost psychologists, A.R. Luria
of the S o v i e t U n i o n , wrote a c l a s s i c book, The Mind o f a
Mnemonlst [21], on a man who had the t y p i c a l characteristics
of our f a n t a s i z e r s and, i n a d d i t i o n , had s p e c i a l i z e d In
learning and practicing mnemonic methods for rememltertng
long l i s t s of words, numbers, and events.
After studying
t h i s subject intensively, Luria concluded that, "Indeed, one
would be hard put to say which was more r e a l for him: the
w o r l d of i m a g i n a t i o n In which he l i v e d , o r the world of
r e a l i t y i n which he was a temporary guest" ([21], p. 159).
Like some of the fantasy-prone individuals described In t h i s
paper, L u r l a ' s s u b j e c t had a v i v i d memory, c o u l d c l e a r l y
r e c a l l early childhood events, accelerate h i s heart rate by
imagining running, make h i s hand hot or cold by Imagining
p l a c i n g i t on a hot stove o r i n Ice w a t e r , and b l o c k the
e x p e r i e n c e o f p a i n when i n the d e n t i s t ' s c h a i r by
hallucinating himself s i t t i n g In another part of the room
observing the ongoing dentistry.
In fact, his exceptional
memory "talent" becomes much more understandable when we
r e a l i z e that mnemonic techniques can be l e a r n e d by any
i n t e l l i g e n t person who i s w i l l i n g to make the effort (22).
R e c e n t l y , another i n d i v i d u a l who has the a b i l i t i e s
w h i c h c h a r a c t e r i z e o u r f a n t a s y - p r o n e s u b j e c t s was
immortalized i n a b e s t - s e l l i n g book e n t i t l e d The Story of
Ruth by Dr. Schatzman [23].
An Important aspect of RiftlTs
d i f f i c u l t i e s , which she r e v e a l e d e a r l y i n p s y c h i a t r i c
therapy, was that she became nervous and agitated whenever
she saw (an apparition of) her father i n her house.
(Iter
f a t h e r was a l i v e a t t h a t timet)
Ruth s t a t e d that (the
apparition of) her father would a l t i n a chair i n her house
and watch h e r . Sometimes "he" would laugh or s m i l e . At
other times, she could hear "him" coming and going and could

&

it

i,.

fc

e m e l l t h e s m o k e f r o m h i s p i p e - i n f a c t , ^ t h e " s m o k e " made

her house s m e l l y ^
I t appeared from Ruth's s t a t e m e n t s t h a t
t h e a p p a r i t i o n o f h e r f a t h e r liad t h e same c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s
and was p r a c t i c a l l y i n d i s t i n g u i s l i a b l e from h e r r e a l f a t h e r .
After a series of sessions,
the p s y c h i a t r i s t , D r .
S c h a t z m a n , a s k e d R u t h , "Why d o n ' t you t r y t o p r o d u c e t h e
apparition?"
Ruth f i n a l l y agreed, stared at an empty space
i n the . c o r a e r o f the room, and then announced, "I'm s e e i n g
h i m now; ' l i e ' s w e a r i n g a w h i t e s h i r t t h a t ' s w e l l
pressed."
As R u t h d e s c r i b e d t h e d e t a i l s o f t h e a p p a r i t i o n v i v i d l y , D r .
S c l i a t z r a a n a s k e d h e r t o make i t g o a w a y .
She c o n c e n t r a t e d
for a b o u t t e n seconds and t h e n announced, " l i e ' s gone now."
What s h e h a d d o n e p r e v i o u s l y u n c o n s c i o u s l y - c r e a t i n g
the
a p p a r i t i o n - now b e c a m e c o n s c i o u s : she r e a l i z e d t h a t s h e
c o u l d make "htm" c o m e a n d s h e c o u l d make " h i m " g o ; t h a t " l i e "
w a s u n d e r h e r c o n t r o l ; a n d t h a t s h e had b e e n c r e a t i n g " h i m "
a l l a l o n g but had not r e a l i z e d t h a t she was d o i n g i t .
As m i g h t be e x p e c t e d ,
Ruth possesses a l l of
the
s t r i k i n g c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s t h a t a r e found i n our f a n t a s y - p r o n e
subjects.
Among o t h e r B s h e c a n m a k e h e r h a n d v e r y h o t o r
very c o l d by f a n t a s i z i n g a h o t o r c o l d s i t u a t i o n , and
e x p e r i e n c e s v i v i d c h i l d h o o d m e m o r i e s . A l s o , as m i g h t be
expected, when s h e was a c h i l d , she p e r c e i v e d h e r d o l l s a s
literally
a l i v e and she had ( i m a g i n a r y ) c h i l d r e n as
playmates a n d c o m p a n i o n s .
A f t e r w o r k i n g many m o n t h s w i t h
R u t h , D r . Schatzman c o n c l u d e d t h a t h e r b a s i c t a l e n t was h e r
a b i l i t y f o r " s u p p r e s s i n g k n o w l e d g e o f what was r e a l to
e x p e r i e n c e s o m e t h i n g e l s e . " To t h e p r e s e n t w r i t e r s , t h i s i s
anotlier way o f s a y i n g t h a t R u t h ' s b a s i c t a l e n t i s t h e same
as t h a t o f o u r f a n t a s y - p r o n e s u b j e c t s ; n a m e l y , a n a b i l i t y t o
h a l l u c i n a t e - t o become so a b s o r b e d and i n v o l v e d i n a n
imagined o r f a n t a s i z e d e v e n t t h a t i t becomes r e a l , and
consensus r e a l i t y I s n o t p e r c e i v e d .
L u r l a [ 2 1 ] , a n d S c h a t z m a n [ 2 3 ] d o n o t s a y v e r y much
about the " p s y c h i c " e x p e r i e n c e s o f t h e i r s u b j e c t s .
We
w o u l d Burmise t h a t t h i s i s due t o f a i l u r e o n t h e p a r t o f t h e
i n v e s t i g a t o r s to probe i n t o t h e i r subjects' " p s y c h i c "
experiences r a t h e r than to the a l t e r n a t i v e p o s s i b i l i t y that
the s u b j e c t s s i m p l y d i d not have such experiences.
A recent
a r t i c l e o n a wpraan w h o h a s t h e a b i l i t i e s w h i c h c h a r a c t e r i z e
our
fantasy-prone
subjects
emphasizes
her
"psychic"

e x p e r i e n c e s more tlian h e r o t h e r a b i l i t i e s .
This a r t i c l e
[24] d e s c r i b e s a w e l l - f u n c t i o n i n g and s u c c e s s f u l i n d i v i d u a l ,
R o s a l y n D r u y e r e , who " s e e s " a n d r e a d s a u r a s , " s e e s " I n s i d e a
person's body, performs p s y c h i c h e a l i n g s , and has
out-ofthe-body experiences.
MB.
Bruyere's talents
are
not
e s p e c i a l l y s u r p r i s i n g to us.
In f a c t , our data l e a d to the
p r e d i c t i o n t h a t when M s . B r u y e r e , and o t h e r s who show
s i m i l a r p s y c h i c t a l e n t s , a r e i n t e r v i e w e d Jn d e p t h , t h e y w i l l
be f o u n d t o p o s s e s s t h e c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s o r
fantasy-prone
individuals.
Our d a t a a l s o s u g g e s t t h a t I n d i v i d u a l s m a n i f e s t i n g t h e
f a n t a s y - p r o n e s y n d r o m e may h a v e b e e n o v e r - r e p r e s e n t e d among
famous m e d i u m s , p s y c h i c s , and r e l i g i o u s v i s i o n a r i e s o f the
past.
To t e s t t h e v a l i d i t y o f t h i s c o n j e c t u r e , we h a v e
begun t o l o o k a t the b i o g r a p h i e s o f I n d i v i d u a l s I n these
categories.
F o r I n s t a n c e , we l o o k e d a t a r e c e n t b i o g r a p h y
of Madame B l a v a t s k y w h o , i n a d d i t i o n t o f o u n d i n g m o d e r n
T h e o s o p h y w a s a l s o r e p u t e d t o be a s e n s i t i v e a n d t o h a v e
psychic powers.
She I s d e s c r i b e d b y h e r b i o g r a p h e r
[2>]
a l o n g the f o l l o w i n g l i n e s : As a young c h i l d she t h o r o u g h l y
believed In ghosts, monsters, snd various other magical
c r e a t u r e s who o b e y e d h e r c o m m a n d s .
During her l a t e r
life
s h e h a d many h a l l u c i n a t o r y a n d p s y c l i l c e x p e r i e n c e s .
The
b e s t s h o r t d e s c r i p t i o n o f h e r , w h i c h was p r o v i d e d by the
p o e t W i l l i a m B u i t i e r Y e a t s a f t e r he became w e l l - a c q u a i n t e d
w i t h her i s , "She dreams w h i l e awake."
These and o t n e r
I n d i c a t i o n s o f a profound fantasy l i f e l e a d us to conclude
t h a t Madame B l a v a t s k y h a d c l i a r a c t e r l s t l c s s i m i l a r t o
the
f a n t a s y - p r o n e s u b j e c t s we I n t e r v i e w e d i n t h i s p r o j e c t .
r

Famous mediums s u c h a s M r o . L e o n a r d and E i l e e n G a r r e t t

a l s o had s i m i l a r a t t r i b u t e s .
As c h i l d r e n , both l i v e d a
g r e a t part of the time i n a m a k e - b e l i e v e w o r l d ,
had
I m a g i n a r y p l a y m a t e s who l o o k e d and f e l t l i k e o r d i n a r y
c h i l d r e n , had " v i s i t a t i o n s " from dead r e l a t i v e s , and had
d i f f i c u l t y d i s t i n g u i s h i n g f a n t a s i z e d from n o n - f a n t a s i z e d
events and persons [ 2 6 , 2 7 ] .
As a d u l t s they were e x c e l l e n t
h y p n o t i c s u b j e c t s who became t r a n c e m e d i u m s , c o n t i n u e d t o
spend much t i m e f a n t a s i z i n g a t h a l l u c i n a t o r y i n t e n s i t i e s ,
a n d h a d many p s y c h i c e x p e r i e n c e s .

In

addition to

casting

a new l i g h t on a v a r i e t y o f

ii

psychological and parapsychological phenomena, the data from

t h i s s t u d y a l s o c l a r i f y the t o p i c of hypnosis. The d a t a
show t h a t h y p n o t i c phenomena a r e n a t u r a l f o r some
i n d i v i d u a l s ; fantasy-prone p e r s o n a l i t i e s have had many
e x p e r i e n c e s throughout t h e i r l i v e s which a r e s i m i l a r t o
c l a s s i c a l h y p n o s i s e x p e r i e n c e s , and they f i n d the
suggestions of the hypnotist very harmonious w i t h t h e i r own
ongoing e x p e r i e n t i a l l i f e .
I t has been c l e a r f o r many y e a r s t h a t the h y p n o t i c
s i t u a t i o n can be viewed as a s o c i a l i n t e r a c t i o n i n which one
person communicates ideas and suggestions, w h i l e another
person accepts and acts on the communications according t o
h i s o r h e r u n d e r s t a n d i n g s , a t t i t u d e s , e x p e c t a t i o n s , and
motivations [4,28-30). Although much about hypnosis can be
understood by viewing i t as a s o c i a l i n t e r a c t i o n that i s
affected by a large number of aoclo-psychologlcal v a r i a b l e s ,
there s t i l l remains something very Important that needs t o
be explained: When other Important factors are apparently
held constant (e.g., subjects' a t t l t u d e o , expectancies and
motivations, the r e l a t i o n s h i p between subject and hypnotist,
and the wording and tone of the suggestions), why does one
subject respond q u i c k l y , e a s i l y , and profoundly t o a wide
v a r i e t y o f s u g g e s t i o n s w h i l e o t h e r s u b j e c t s respond
p e r f u n c t o r i l y t o only a few suggestions? ltie present study
h e l p s t o c l a r i f y hypnosis by showing t h a t t h e r e a r e
i n d i v i d u a l s who have a h i s t o r y o f i n t e n s e f a n t a s y , have
developed h a l l u c i n a t o r y a b i l i t i e s , and wlto, as a r e s u l t of
these t a l e n t s , a r c able t o q u i c k l y , e a s i l y , and profoundly
experience the c l a s s i c a l hypnotic phenomena.
In f a c t , as our data accumulated, we r e a l i z e d that the
major reason why some Individuals are excellent- hypnotic
subjects i s that they l i v e i n a fantasy world of t h e i r own
creation that i s much very l i k e the world the hypnotist asks
them t o "go i n t o . " F o r the 26 f a n t a s i z e r s , t h e r e i s a
reduction o r fading of the generalized r e a l i t y o r i e n t a t i o n
to s e l f , time, and place [311 whenever they become involved
In e i t h e r t h e i r own f a n t a s i e s nnd memories o r i n the
experiences that are. t y p i c a l l y suggested by a h y p n o t i s t .
Furthermore, t h e r e a r e many c l o s e p a r a l l e l s between
c l a s s i c a l h y p n o t i c phenomena and the e x p e r i e n c e s o f
fantasizers In t h e i r everyday l i f e .

t-

i t

1.

The hypnotic phenomenon of age regression would not be

d i f f i c u l t f o r the subject dencribed e a r l i e r who, when simply
naked about h e r e a r l y memories d u r i n g t h e i n t e r v i e w ,
r e c a l l e d nnd v i v i d l y re-experienced her f i r s t birthday w i t h
a l l the associated s i g h t s , sounds, f e e l i n g s , and emotions.
In f a c t , age regression ( r e l i v i n g previous experiences) i s
something v i r t u a l l y a l l the f a n t a s i z e r s do n a t u r a l l y i n
their dally lives.
Another c l a s s i c a l hypnotic phenomenon has been labeled
v i s u a l nnd a u d i t o r y h a l l u c i n a t i o n s . The majority of the
fantasy-prone subjects do not f i n d i t e s p e c i a l l y d i f f i c u l t
to respond t o hypnotic suggestions t o h a l l u c i n a t e v i s u a l l y ,
a c o u s t i c a l l y , o r i n any o t h e r sensory m o d a l i t y . F o r
Instance, i f a hypnotist t e l l s a fantasy-prone subject he i s
p r e s e n t i n g h e r w i t h a rose w h i l e he p r e s e n t s h e r w i t h
ammonia* her v i v i d (hallucinatory) memory of the odor of a
rose (to which she i s attending) can conceal the odor of the
ammonia. The c l a s s i c a l h y p n o t i c phenomenon l a b e l e d as
n e g a t i v e h a l l u c i n a t i o n (not seeing o r hearing n person or
o b j e c t i n the room) i s a l s o not t o o d i f f i c u l t f o r most
f a n t a s y - p r o n e s u b j e c t s . When they a r e g i v e n such a
suggestion, they can "block out" the person o r object from
t h e i r p e r c e p t u a l f i e l d by f a n t a s i z i n g ( h a l l u c i n a t i n g )
something e l s e i n the place of the person or object they are
not t o perceive.
The c l a s s i c a l h y p n o t i c s i t u a t i o n a l s o I n c l u d e s
s u g g e s t i o n s t h a t a l i m b o r p a r t o f the body f e e l s heavy,
r i g i d , l i g h t , h o t , c o l d , o r numb. These s u g g e s t i o n s n r e
easy f o r subjects who lmve l u c i d (hallucinatory) memories
and are able t o v i v i d l y remember and re-experience a time
when a l i m b o r p a r t of t h e body f e l t heavy, l i g h t , h o t ,
numb, e t c . Other c l a s s i c a l hypnotic suggestions that are
associated w i t h observable b o d i l y cliangcs, e.g., Increasing
the blood f l o w t o a l i m b , r a i s i n g o r l o w e r i n g t h e h e a r t
rote, removing warts o r producing b l i s t e r s (28,32,33) appear
to be w i t h i n t h e p o t e n t i a l o f fantnsy-prone I n d i v i d u a l s
whose fantasies of eating spoiled food can produce i l l n e s s ,
etc*
In b r i e f , i n d i v i d u a l s we have labeled as fantany-prone
p e r s o n a l i t i e s have many experiences i n t h e i r d a i l y l i v e s
that are s i m i l a r t o those which lmve been associated with

fL

i.

H-

hypnosis. We would conjecture that these are the people who

have been the subjects when we hear dramatic accounts of
h y p n o t i c phenomena. A p p a r e n t l y most h y p n o t i s t s do not
r e a l i z e t h a t t h e s e e x c e l l e n t h y p n o t i c s u b j e c t s (or
"somuambules") are able to experience the c l a s s i c a l hypnotic
phenomena p r i m a r i l y b e c a u s e they had p r a c t i c e i n
experiencing s i m i l a r phenomena d u r i n g t h e i r d a i l y l i v e s .
Our d a t a i n d i c a t e t h a t the hypnosis s e t t i n g p r o v i d e s a
s i tuat'iioro I n which those w i t h a s e c r e t f a n t a s y l i f e can
p u b l i c l y demonstrate t h e i r B p e c l a l a b i l i t i e s or t a l e n t s ,
where they are not only s o c i a l l y permissible, but rewarded.
Before c l o s i n g t h i s discussion on hypnosis, we should
mention that the data presented i n this paper a l s o cast a
new l i g h t on an Important, unexplained h i s t o r i c a l fact about
hypnosis. During the e a r l y part of the 19th century, the
phenomena that were thought to be associated w i t h hypnosis
included h a l l u c i n a t i o n s , delusions, catalepsy, anesthesia,
amnesia, and telepathy, clairvoyance, and precognition {34J.
It was apparently assumed at that time that the l a t t e r three
phenomena were explained by the postulate that hypnosis gave
r i s e to psychic s e n s i t i v i t y . Our data, however, suggest an
a l t e r n a t i v e i n t e r p r e t a t i o n : a l t h o u g h deep h y p n o s i s may
encourage an i n d i v i d u a l to manifest his psychic a b i l i t i e s ,
I t does not produce them; I n s t e a d , s e n s i t i v i t y to
telepathic, clairvoyant, and precognltlve Impressions and
the a b i l i t y to reduce o r i e n t a t i o n to time, place, and person
(under deep hypnosis) tend to be found i n the same kind of
person - one who has a h i s t o r y of profound involvement In
fantasy.
It needs to be strongly emphasized that our subjects
with a propensity f o r h a l l u c i n a t o r y fantasy are as w e l l adjusted as our comparison group or as the average person.
It appears that the l i f e experiences and s k i l l developments
which underlie the a b i l i t y f o r hallucinatory fantasy are
more or less Independent of the kinds of l i f e experiences
that lead t o psychopathology.
Five of the fantasy-prone
s u b j e c t s a r e happy, p o p u l a r , competent, l o v i n g , and have
high self-esteem; four have had d i f f i c u l t i e s i n adjustment;
and the remainder work, love, and s o c i a l i z e w i t h i n the broad
average range of adjustment.

We have noted that our fantasy-prone subjects seem to

have v i v i d sensory experiences nnd v i v i d personal memories.
E a r l i e r Investigators liad s i m i l a r l y noted that an excellent
memory was found In Individuals whom we would expect to be
high In fantasy. Spiegel [35] noted that h i s best hypnotic
subjects In a c l i n i c a l s i t u a t i o n were characterized by an
e x c e l l e n t memory ( p l u s empathy, t r u s t i n people, and
absorption i n the present). Along s i m i l a r i l l p e s , R o l l [36]
summarized evidence Indicating that Individuals w i t h psychic
a b i l i t i e s a l s o have exceptional memories. He refers, for
example, to Osty, Bekhterev, Abramowskt, W i l l i a m James, S i r
O l i v e r Lodge, Tenhaeff, and other Investigators who found
that the best subjects In ESP experiments ond a l s o w e l l known p s y c h i c s who have been s t u d i e d I n t e n s i v e l y - e.g.,
Mrs. Piper and Mrs. Leonard - manifested a remarkably v i v i d
memory.
We would hypothesize that v i v i d sensory experiences,
memories, and f a n t a s i e s a r e c a u s a l l y I n t e r r e l a t e d as
f o l l o w s : Individuals who focus on and v i v i d l y f e e l t h e i r
sensory experiences have r e l a t i v e l y l u c i d memories of t h e i r
experiences; and Individuals w i t h v i v i d memories of t h e i r
e x p e r i e n c e s are a b l e t o have r e l a t i v e l y v i v i d f a n t a s i e s
because they can use t h e i r v i v i d memories as raw material
from which they can c r e a t i v e l y construct t h e i r fantasies.
Although the above hypotheses appear d i f f i c u l t to test,
the relationships we have noted between sensory experiences,'
memories, and fantasies lead to predictions that are e a s i l y
testable. For Instance, wo should bo able to predict the
v i v i d n e s s of I n d i v i d u a l s ' f a n t a s i e s by a s s e s s i n g the
vividness of t h e i r sensory experiences or by asking them to
r e c a l l s p e c i f i c personal events - f o r Instance, t h e i r f i r s t
day i n school, the f i r s t time they smoked a c i g a r e t t e , etc.
The degree to which they have v i v i d sensory experiences and
r e c a l l and re-experience e a r l i e r personal events v i v i d l y In
a l l sense m o d a l i t i e s should p r e d i c t the h a l l u c i n a t o r y
q u a l i t i e s of t h e i r fantasies and correlated variables such
as h y p n o t l z a b l l l t y and psychic a b i l i t i e s .
Of course, much further research i s needed to determine
how fantasy and l i a l l u c l n a t o r y a b i l i t y develop i n both males
and females i n our c u l t u r e and In other cultures, liow these
a b i l i t i e s are l o s t , maintained, or strengthened during the

l t f c span, and how they a r e r e l a t e d to h y p n o t I z a b l l l t y ,

p s y c h i c e x p e r i e n c e s , and o t h e r normal and abnormal
psychological phenomena.

11.

H l l g a r d , J.R. P e r s o n a l i t y and Hypnosis: A Study o f

Imaginative Involvement (Chicago: University of Chicago
Press, 1970).
12. W i l s o n , C. M y s t e r i e s (New York: C P . Putnam's Sons,
1978).

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Tlv> Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Department of Mental Health
Gushing H o s p i t a l , P 0 Box 190
Frarolnghnu, MA 01701